Saturday, November 30, 2013

Latest Additions to Non-Fiction



The Sneeze-Free Cat Owner by Diane Morgan

Are you or someone you love among the over ten million Americans who suffer from some sort of pet-related allergy? Is the dream of bringing a cat into your home met with the fear of allergy symptoms? 

The Sneeze-Free Cat Owner is entirely devoted to helping cat lovers who suffer from pet-related allergies find an appropriate breed for their family. This unique guide features in-depth breed profiles that include grooming needs, personality traits, activity levels, and health issues for cats compatible with allergic owners. It also discusses the controversy over the allergy-free properties of so-called "designer cats" and provides information on the best places to purchase or adopt your hypoallergenic cat. 

Because even homes without pets can have high levels of allergens, this book reveals how to minimize exposure in any home and contains dozens of tips for controlling and managing the home environment, including natural, at-home, and homeopathic treatments for allergy sufferers along with recent medical breakthroughs.

If concern over pet-related allergies has prevented you or someone you love from owning a cat, The Sneeze-Free Cat Owner can help in the management of your allergy symptoms and enable you to find the perfect feline friend.

For more information on Diane Morgan and her latest works visit her Amazon author page.  
 

Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly


A riveting historical narrative of the heart-stopping events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the first work of history from mega-bestselling author Bill O'Reilly.
 
The anchor of The O'Reilly Factor recounts one of the most dramatic stories in American history—how one gunshot changed the country forever. In the spring of 1865, the bloody saga of America's Civil War finally comes to an end after a series of increasingly harrowing battles.

President Abraham Lincoln's generous terms for Robert E. Lee's surrender are devised to fulfill Lincoln's dream of healing a divided nation, with the former Confederates allowed to reintegrate into American society. But one man and his band of murderous accomplices, perhaps reaching into the highest ranks of the U.S. government, are not appeased.

In the midst of the patriotic celebrations in Washington D.C., John Wilkes Booth—charismatic ladies' man and impenitent racist—murders Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. A furious manhunt ensues and Booth immediately becomes the country's most wanted fugitive. Lafayette C. Baker, a smart but shifty New York detective and former Union spy, unravels the string of clues leading to Booth, while federal forces track his accomplices.

The thrilling chase ends in a fiery shootout and a series of court-ordered executions—including that of the first woman ever executed by the U.S. government, Mary Surratt. Featuring some of history's most remarkable figures, vivid detail, and page-turning action, Killing Lincoln is history that reads like a thriller. 


For more information on Bill O'Reilly and his latest works visit his website.  
 

Doc Holliday by John Myers Myers

"John Myers Myers has written Doc's story with a skill that matches the sureness of a bullet from Doc's gun."-Dallas Times Herald. "As for the general reader, he'll eat this up and beg for more."-San Francisco Chronicle.


Tales of Old-Time Texas by J. Frank Dobie


It is for good reason that J. Frank Dobie is known as the Southwest's master storyteller. With his eye for color and detail, his ear for the rhythm of language and song, and his heart open to the simple truth of folk wisdom and ways, he movingly and unpretentiously spins the tales of our collective heritages. This he does in Tales of Old-Time Texas, a heartwarming array of twenty-eight stories filled with vivid characters, exciting historical episodes, and traditional themes. As Dobie himself says: "Any tale belongs to whoever can best tell it." Here, then, is a collection of the best Texas tales--by the Texan who can best tell them.

Dobie's recollections include such classics in Lone Star State lore as the tale of Jim Bowie's knife, the legend of the Texas bluebonnet, the story of the Wild Woman of the Navidad, and the account of the headless horseman of the mustangs. Other stories in this outstanding collection regale us with odd and interesting characters and events: the stranger of Sabine Pass, the Apache secret of the Guadalupes, the planter who gambled away his bride, and the Robinhooding of Sam Bass. These stories, and many more, make Tales of Old-Time Texas a beloved classic certain to endure for generations.


For more information on J. Frank Dobie visit this website.  
 

Texas Bad Girls: Hussies, Harlots and Horse Thieves by J. Lee Butts

Sometimes humorous, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes deeply sad and moving, here are the biographies of fifteen Texas bad girls: husband killers, ordinary murderers, whorehouse madams, prostitutes, gamblers, bank robbers, and floozies.

Each contributes to a rowdy, ribald history that dates from the state's earliest settlers to yesterday's biggest news story.

For more information on J. Lee Butts visit this website. 

Friday, November 29, 2013

Thrilling NEW Reads in Adult Fiction This Week

Dust by Patricia Cornwell
Kay Scarpetta Series Book # 21

Massachusetts Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta has just returned from working one of the worst mass murders in U.S. history when she’s awakened at an early hour by Detective Pete Marino.

A body, oddly draped in an unusual cloth, has just been discovered inside the sheltered gates of MIT and it’s suspected the identity is that of missing computer engineer Gail Shipton, last seen the night before at a trendy Cambridge bar. It appears she’s been murdered, mere weeks before the trial of her $100 million lawsuit against her former financial managers, and Scarpetta doubts it’s a coincidence. She also fears the case may have a connection with her computer genius niece, Lucy.

At a glance there is no sign of what killed Gail Shipton, but she’s covered with a fine dust that under ultraviolet light fluoresces brilliantly in three vivid colors, what Scarpetta calls a mineral fingerprint. Clearly the body has been posed with chilling premeditation that is symbolic and meant to shock, and Scarpetta has reason to worry that the person responsible is the Capital Murderer, whose most recent sexual homicides have terrorized Washington, D.C. Stunningly, Scarpetta will discover that her FBI profiler husband, Benton Wesley, is convinced that certain people in the government, including his boss, don’t want the killer caught.

In Dust, Scarpetta and her colleagues are up against a force far more sinister than a sexual predator who fits the criminal classification of a "spectacle killer.” The murder of Gail Shipton soon leads deep into the dark world of designer drugs, drone technology, organized crime, and shocking corruption at the highest levels.


For more information on Patricia Cornwell and her latest works visit her website.   

The Strangled Queen by Maurice Druon
Accursed Kings Series Book # 2

“Accursed! Accursed! You shall be accursed to the thirteenth generation!”

The Iron King – Philip the Fair – is as cold and silent, as handsome and unblinking as a statue. He governs his realm with an iron hand, but he cannot rule his own family: his sons are weak and their wives adulterous; while his red-blooded daughter Isabella is unhappily married to an English king who prefers the company of men.

A web of scandal, murder and intrigue is weaving itself around the Iron King; but his downfall will come from an unexpected quarter. Bent on the persecution of the rich and powerful Knights Templar, Philip sentences Grand Master Jacques de Molay to be burned at the stake, thus drawing down upon himself a curse that will destroy his entire dynasty…


For more information on Maurice Druon visit this website.   

Sycamore Row by John Grisham 
Jake Brigance Series Book # 2

Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier. 

The second will raises far more questions than it answers. 


Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly? 

And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row?

For more information on John Grisham and his latest works visit his website.   

Because We Belong by Beth Kery
Because You Are Mine Series Book  # 3

Introduced in New York Times bestselling author Beth Kery’s erotic phenomenon Because You Are Mine, they aroused an "addictive and delicious" (USA Today) romance that dared to break the rules of attraction.

In Because We Belong Ian and Francesca return to reignite the exquisite passions that drew them together, and to finally face the intimate secrets that threatened to separate them forever. The secrets of an inescapable past that was one man’s darkest mystery—a darkness that seduced one woman and forever held her spellbound with forbidden desire. 


For both of them, the next step is total abandon. 

For more information on Beth Kery and her latest works visit her website.   

Holly Blues by Susan Wittig Albert
China Bayles Series Book # 18

China Bayles is fit to spit when her husband's troubled ex-wife, Sally, shows up at her herb shop, claiming to be broke with nowhere else to turn. China isn't sure if it's the goodness of her heart or the scent of Christmas wreaths, but she invites Sally to stay.

Then China starts receiving menacing calls from an "ex" of Sally's, who seems to have a connection to the murder of her parents nearly a decade ago. 


With her P.I. husband out of town, it's up to China to weed out the truth behind whatever it is Sally's running from before danger catches up to all of them....


For more information on Susan Wittig Albert and her latest works visit her website.  
  
Mean Streets by Various Authors (Anthology)


From four of today’s hottest fantasy authors—all-new novellas of dark nights, cruel cities, and paranormal P.I.s.

The best paranormal private investigators have been brought together in a single volume—and cases don’t come any harder than this.

New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher delivers a hard-boiled tale in which Harry Dresden’s latest case may be his last.

Nightside dweller John Taylor is hired by a woman to find something she lost—her memory—in a thrilling noir tale from New York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green.

National bestselling author Kat Richardson’s Greywalker finds herself in too deep when a “simple job” goes bad and Harper Blaine is enmeshed in a tangle of dark secrets and revenge from beyond the grave.

For centuries, the being that we know as Noah lived among us. Now he is dead, and fallen-angel-turned-detective Remy Chandler has been hired to find out who killed him in a whodunit by national bestselling author Thomas E. Sniegoski.


Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane
Kenzie and Gennaro Series Book # 6

Amanda McCready was four years old when she vanished from a Boston neighborhood twelve years ago. Desperate pleas for help from the child's aunt led investigators Kenzie and Gennaro to take on the case. The pair risked everything to find the young girl—only to orchestrate her return to a neglectful mother and a broken home.

Now Amanda is sixteen—and gone again. A stellar student, brilliant but aloof, she seemed destined to escape her upbringing. Yet Amanda's aunt is once more knocking on Patrick Kenzie's door, fearing the worst for the little girl who has blossomed into a striking, clever young woman—a woman who hasn't been seen in weeks.

Haunted by their consciences, Kenzie and Gennaro revisit the case that troubled them the most. Their search leads them into a world of identity thieves, methamphetamine dealers, a mentally unstable crime boss and his equally demented wife, a priceless, thousand-year-old cross, and a happily homicidal Russian gangster. It's a world in which motives and allegiances constantly shift and mistakes are fatal.

In their desperate fight to confront the past and find Amanda McCready, Kenzie and Gennaro will be forced to question if it's possible to do the wrong thing and still be right or to do the right thing and still be wrong. As they face an evil that goes beyond broken families and broken dreams, they discover that the sins of yesterday don't always stay buried and the crimes of today could end their lives.


For more information on Dennis Lehane and his latest works visit his website.   

A Mighty Fortress by David Weber
Safehold Series Book # 4

Young Cayleb Ahrmahk has accomplished things few people could even dream of. Not yet even thirty years old, he’s won the most crushing naval victories in human history. He’s smashed a hostile alliance of no less than five princedoms and won the hand of the beautiful young Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm. Cayleb and Sharleyan have created the Charisian Empire, the greatest naval power in the history of Safehold, and they’ve turned Charis into a place of refuge for all who treasure freedom.

Their success may prove short-lived. The Church of God Awaiting, which controls most of Safehold, has decreed their destruction. Mother Church’s entire purpose is to prevent the very things to which Charis is committed. Since the first attempt to crush the heretics failed, the Church has no choice but to adopt some of the hated Charisian innovations for themselves. Soon a mighty fleet will sail against Cayleb, destroying everything in its path.

But there are still matters about which the Church knows nothing, including Cayleb and Sharleyan’s adviser, friend, and guardian— the mystic warrior-monk named Merlin Athrawes. Merlin knows all about battles against impossible odds, because he is in fact the cybernetic avatar of a young woman named Nimue Alban, who died a thousand years before. As Nimue, Merlin saw the entire Terran Federation go down in fire and slaughter at the hands of a foe it could not defeat. He knows that Safehold is the last human planet in existence, and that the stasis the Church was created to enforce will be the human race’s death sentence if it is allowed to stand.

The juggernaut is rumbling down on Charis, but Merlin Athrawes and a handful of extraordinary human beings stand in its path. The Church is about to discover just how potent the power of human freedom truly is.


For more information on David Weber and his latest works visit his website.
    
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Kingkiller Chronicle Series Book # 2

My name is Kvothe.
I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in.I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins the tale of a hero told from his own point of view--a story unequaled in fantasy literature. Now in THE WISE MAN'S FEAR, Day Two of the Kingkiller Chronicle, an escalating rivalry with a powerful member of the nobility forces Kvothe to leave the University and seek his fortune abroad. Adrift, penniless, and alone, he travels to Vintas, where he quickly becomes entangled in the politics of courtly society. While attempting to curry favor with a powerful noble, Kvothe uncovers an assassination attempt, comes into conflict with a rival arcanist, and leads a group of mercenaries into the wild, in an attempt to solve the mystery of who (or what) is waylaying travelers on the King's Road.

All the while, Kvothe searches for answers, attempting to uncover the truth about the mysterious Amyr, the Chandrian, and the death of his parents. Along the way, Kvothe is put on trial by the legendary Adem mercenaries, is forced to reclaim the honor of the Edema Ruh, and travels into the FAe realm. There he meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist, and who no man has ever survived...until Kvothe.

In THE WISE MAN'SFEAR, Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.


For more information on Patrick Rothfuss and his latest works visit his website.  
 
Somewhere to Belong by Judith Miller
Daughters of Anna Series Book # 1

Johanna Ilg has lived her entire life in Main Amana, one of the seven villages inhabited by devout Christians who believe in cooperative living, a simple lifestyle, and faithful service to God. Although she's always longed to see the outside world, Johanna believes her future is rooted in the community. 

But when she learns a troubling secret, the world she thought she knew is shattered and she is forced to make difficult choices about a new life and the man she left behind. 

Berta Schumacher has lived a privileged life in Chicago, and when her parents decide they want a simpler life in Amana, Iowa, she resists. Under the strictures of the Amana villages, Berta's rebellion reaches new
heights. Will her heart ever be content among the plain people of Amana? 

For more information on Judith Miller and her latest works visit her website.   

More Than Words by Judith Miller
Daughters of Anna Series Book # 2

Gretchen Kohler is an Amana storekeeper's daughter with a secret passion for writing. But artistic pursuits are frowned upon in her conservative Amana village, so she confines her poems and stories to her journals, letting only close friends read them. 

When a young reporter comes into her store, she believes she's found a kindred spirit. She shares a few of her stories with him--only to have her trust betrayed in the worst of ways, resulting in trouble for her entire community. The scandal is made even worse by the fact that gypsies have camped nearby and seem to be preying upon the Amanans' compassionate, pacifist nature. 

Will Gretchen lose her job, her reputation, and the love of her childhood beau all because of one bad decision?

For more information on Judith Miller and her latest works visit her website.

A Bond Never Broken by Judith Miller
Daughters of Anna Series Book # 3

For many years, Ilsa Redlich has helped her parents run a hotel in South Amana, but as the United States enters the Great War, she can feel her world changing. The residents of the towns surrounding the Amana Colonies used to be accepting of their quiet, peaceful neighbors, but with anti-German sentiment running high, the Amana villages are now plagued by vandalism, threats, and insults. Things get even worse when Ilsa finds out her family won't be allowed to speak German in public--and that Garon, the childhood friend she's long been smitten with, has decided to join the army. 

Jutta Schmidt is shocked when several members of the Council of National Defense show up on her family's doorstep. Sure, the Schmidts once lived in the Amana Colonies, but that was years ago. She's even more surprised when the council demands that she travel to Amana and report back on any un-American activities. Not daring to disobey the government agents, Jutta takes a job at the South Amana hotel, befriends the daughter of the owners, and begins to eavesdrop every chance she gets. 


When Jutta hears Ilsa making antiwar remarks and observes Garon assisting a suspicious outsider, she is torn at the prospect of betraying her new friends. But what choice does she have? And when Garon is accused of something far worse than Jutta could imagine, can the Amana community come to his aid in time?


For more information on Judith Miller and her latest works visit her website.  
  
Mirage by Clive Cussler
Orgeon Files Series Book # 9

In October 1943, a U.S. destroyer sailed out of Philadelphia and supposedly vanished, the result of a Navy experiment with electromagnetic radiation. The story was considered a hoax—but now Juan Cabrillo and his Oregon colleagues aren’t so sure.

There is talk of a new weapon soon to be auctioned, something very dangerous to America’s interests, and the rumors link it to the great inventor Nikola Tesla, who was working with the Navy when he died in 1943. Was he responsible for the experiment? 


Are his notes in the hands of enemies? As Cabrillo races to find the truth, he discovers there is even more at stake than he could have imagined—but by the time he realizes it, he may already be too late.

For more information on Clive Cussler and his latest works visit his website.  
 
The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

The one and only Fannie Flagg, beloved author of "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, "and" I Still Dream About You, " is at her hilarious and superb best in this new comic mystery novel about two women who are forced to reimagine who they are. 

Mrs. Sookie Poole of Point Clear, Alabama, has just married off the last of her daughters and is looking forward to relaxing and perhaps traveling with her husband, Earle. The only thing left to contend with is her mother, the formidable Lenore Simmons Krackenberry. Lenore may be a lot of fun for other people, but is, for the most part, an overbearing presence for her daughter. Then one day, quite by accident, Sookie discovers a secret about her mother's past that knocks her for a loop and suddenly calls into question everything she ever thought she knew about herself, her family, and her future. 


Sookie begins a search for answers that takes her to California, the Midwest, and back in time, to the 1940s, when an irrepressible woman named Fritzi takes on the job of running her family's filling station. Soon truck drivers are changing their routes to fill up at the All-Girl Filling Station. Then, Fritzi sees an opportunity for an even more groundbreaking adventure. As Sookie learns about the adventures of the girls at the All-Girl Filling Station, she finds herself with new inspiration for her own life. 


For more information on Fannie Flagg and her latest works visit her website.   

Identical by Scott Turow
Kindle County Legal Thriller Series Book # 9

IDENTICAL, based loosely on the myth of Castor and Pollux, is the story of identical twins Paul and Cass Giannis and the complex relationships between their family and their former neighbors, the Kronons. The novel focuses principally on events in 2008, when Paul is a candidate for Mayor of Kindle County, and Cass is released from the penitentiary, 25 years after pleading guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, Aphrodite Kronon.

The plot centers on the re-investigation of Aphrodite's murder, carried out together by Evon Miller, an ex-FBI agent who is the head of security for the Kronon family business ZP, and private investigator Tim Brodie, 81, a former homicide detective. 

The complex web of murder, sex, and betrayal-as only Scott Turow could weave-dramatically unfolds, and the chilling truth is revealed: people will believe what they want to believe.

For more information on Scott Turow and his latest works visit his website.  

Winners by Danielle Steel

Acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel delivers her most moving, emotionally charged novel yet, in which lives are transformed after a series of heartbreaking accidents, and healing is achieved through the redemptive power of hope and love.

When a horrific chairlift accident leaves 17-year-old competitive skier Lily Thomas paralyzed, she must come to grips with the fact that she'll not only be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, but will never fulfill her lifelong dream of winning Olympic gold. Meanwhile, her wealthy father, who has doted on Lily since her mother died when she was three, is devastated as he watches his only child lose all she once cherished and suffer through the arduous road to recovery. But just as all hope seems lost, Lily meets Teddy, a young man even more badly injured than she, but as doggedly determined to live an enriching life. Danielle Steel is at her best in this powerful story of a father and daughter triumphing together over unthinkable tragedy, creating new lives for themselves and providing hope for others along the way.


For more information on Danielle Steel and her latest works visit her website.   

The Wolves of Midwinter by Anne Rice
Wolf Gift Chronicles Series Book # 2

The tale of THE WOLF GIFT continues...

In Anne Rice’s surprising and compelling best-selling novel, the first of her strange and mythic imagining of the world of wolfen powers (“I devoured these pages . . . As solid and engaging as anything she has written since her early vampire chronicle fiction” —Alan Cheuse, The Boston Globe; “A delectable cocktail of old-fashioned lost-race adventure, shape-shifting and suspense” —Elizabeth Hand, The Washington Post), readers were spellbound as Rice imagined a daring new world set against the wild and beckoning California coast.

 
Now in her new novel, as lush and romantic in detail and atmosphere as it is sleek and steely in storytelling, Anne Rice brings us once again to the rugged coastline of Northern California, to the grand mansion at Nideck Point—to further explore the unearthly education of her transformed Man Wolf.

The novel opens on a cold, gray landscape. It is the beginning of December. Oak fires are burning in the stately flickering hearths of Nideck Point. It is Yuletide. For Reuben Golding, now infused with the wolf gift and under the loving tutelage of the Morphenkinder, this Christmas promises to be like no other . . . as he soon becomes aware that the Morphenkinder, steeped in their own rituals, are also celebrating the Midwinter Yuletide festival deep within Nideck forest.

From out of the shadows of the exquisite mansion comes a ghost—tormented, imploring, unable to speak yet able to embrace and desire with desperate affection . . . As Reuben finds himself caught up with the passions and yearnings of this spectral presence and the preparations for the Nideck town Christmas reach a fever pitch, astonishing secrets are revealed, secrets that tell of a strange netherworld, of spirits—centuries old—who possess their own fantastical ancient histories and taunt with their dark, magical powers


For more information on Anne Rice and her latest works visit her website.  
  
The Boleyn Deceit by Laura Andersen
Boleyn Trilogy Book # 2

Henry IX, known as William, is the son of Anne Boleyn and now the leader of England, his regency period finally at an end. His newfound power, however, comes with the looming specter of war with the other major powers of Europe, with strategic alliances that must be forged on both the battlefield and in the bedroom, and with a court, severed by religion, rife with plots to take over the throne. 

Will trusts only three people: his older sister, Elizabeth; his best friend and loyal counselor, Dominic; and Minuette, a young orphan raised as a royal ward by Anne Boleyn. 

But as the pressure rises alongside the threat to his life, even they William must begin to question-and to fear.

For more information on Laura Andersen and her latest works visit her website.  

Sunday, November 24, 2013

New York Times Best Seller List (11/24/2013)


Note: Titles highlighted in BLUE are currently available for checkout. Titles highlighted in RED have been ordered and will be available for checkout soon.  

FICTION

1 SYCAMORE ROW by John Grisham

A sequel, about race and inheritance, to “A Time to Kill.”

2 MIRAGE by Clive Cussler

Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon probe the disappearance of an American destroyer in 1943.

3 THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt

A painting smuggled out of the Metropolitan Museum of Art after a bombing becomes
a boy’s prize, guilt and burden.

4 THE VALLEY OF AMAZEMENT by Amy Tan.

The author of “The Joy Luck Club” follows mother and daughter courtesans over four decades.

5 THE MINOR ADJUSTMENT BEAUTY SALON by Alexander McCall Smith

The 14th installment of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.

6 THE ALL-GIRL FILLING STATION'S LAST REUNION by Fannie Flagg.
A Southern woman’s search for the secrets of her mother’s past leads her to agas station
run by four girls in the Midwest during World War II.

7 DOCTOR SLEEP by Stephen King

Now grown up, Dan, the boy with psycho-intuitive powers in “The Shining,” helps another
threatened child with a gift.

8 THE LONGEST RIDE by Nicholas Sparks

The lives of two couples converge unexpectedly.

9 WINNERS by Danielle Steel

Six people with intertwined lives struggle to surmount challenges.

10 S. by Doug Dorst

In a project conceived by the writer and director J.J. Abrams, the facsimile of a novel
published in 1949 contains marginal annotations and various objects. Two of the annotatrs

11 WE ARE WATER by Wally Lamb

About to marry the woman who is her gallery owner, a divorced artist and mother must confront
secrets from her past.

12 IDENTICAL by Scott Turow

Paul Giannis, running for mayor of Kindle County, is accused of having played a role in the
murder of his twin brother's girlfriend.

13 AIMLESS LOVE by Billy Collins

More than 50 new poems as well as selections from previous books from the two-term
poet laureate of the United States.

14 ACCUSED by Lisa Scottoline

Mary DiNunzio is now a partner at the all-women Philadelphia law firm of Rosato & Associates.

15 THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS by Elizabeth Gilbert

A 19th-century botanist’s love of knowledge takes her to Tahiti; by the author of “Eat, Pray, Love.”

16 INFERNO by Dan Brown

The symbologist Robert Langdon, on the run in Florence, must decipher a series of codes created
by a Dante-loving scientist.

Friday, November 22, 2013

The Wonderful World of Reptiles Takes Over the Library

On Saturday evening, the Library became a fascinating reptile exhibit as exciting as a trip to the zoo. The Friends of the Library hosted this amazing free educational event which included photos of a variety of animals and reptiles from various areas, live reptiles, and many other fascinating things related to reptiles, like snake skins.


The hosts for the evening were Russ Walker and Carol Miserlian (Friends of the Library President). The evening began with a thoroughly entertaining and educational slideshow highlighting snakes, lizards, turtles, and more from various parts of the United States, as well as other countries.


Once the slideshow was completed, we moved on to items that had been confiscated or abandoned at the airport, as well as other fascinating items. All of the items were passed around the audience, which thrilled the adults as much as the children.



The item that received the most attention from the children was the extremely large snake skin.


Finally, the moment all of the children had been waiting for...the live reptiles. Many live reptiles were passed around the room, some in containers but not all of them. We began with small snakes and lizards, slowly working our way up to the larger reptiles.



With each container, the level of excitement amongst the kids elevated. They all listened so intently to the information about the reptiles throughout the event, proving that learning can be exciting and FUN!



I have to say that this was a fantastic library event. The community showed up in full force to support the library and learn about our reptilian friends. If you were unable to attend The Wonderful World of Reptiles event, you can see some of these amazing reptiles during our annual Earth Day event this Spring.

A special thank you to all of the members of the Friends of the Library group for hosting this fascinating educational event and bringing the Library and the community closer together.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Thrilling Audiobooks to Keep You Reading On-The-Go

A Wrongful Death by Kate Wilhelm

Who knew that being a Good Samaritan would lead Barbara Holloway to face her biggest challenge ever: being named prime suspect in a high-profile kidnapping? The peace and quiet of Barbara's retreat on the Oregon coast is shattered when a terrified young boy calls to her as she walks along a deserted beach. Frantically he leads her to a cabin deep in the woods where his mother lies senseless and battered--clearly left for dead. Barbara runs for help, but by the time she returns with the police and medics both mother and son are gone.

The puzzle only deepens when, back in the city, Barbara learns that the boy she met is the grandson of a wealthy and prominent family-- and that they have accused her of aiding and abetting his disappearance.

With the help of her father, Frank, Barbara delves into the mystery of the missing child, only to realize that the kidnapping is a ruse for a more sinister plan--a plan that pits the meaning of family against cold hard cash.

But the more she learns, the more questions she has, and troubling obstacles continue to thwart her every move--from the justice system that employs her, to the false identities of those around her. Yet none of these things compares to the shocking murder scene that awaits her.


For more information on Kate Wilhelm and her latest works visit her website.   

Murder at the Washington Tribune by Margaret Truman

At the big, aggressive Washington Tribune, a young woman, fresh out of journalism school, has been brutally strangled to death–and the hunt for her killer is making sensational headlines. 

Then a second woman is found dead. She, too, worked in the media. For veteran Trib reporter Joe Wilcox, the case strikes too close to home: His daughter is a beautiful rising TV news star. Seeing a chance to revive his free-falling career, Joe spearheads the Trib’s investigation and baits a trap for the murderer with a secret from his own past. 

Suddenly Joe is risking his career, his marriage, and even his daughter’s life by playing a dangerous game with a possible serial killer . . . one who hides in plain sight.

For more information on Margaret Truman visit her website.   


The Devil in the White City: Murder. Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson 

Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that 'The Devil in the White City' is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor.

Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison.

The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims.


For more information on Erik Larson and his latest works visit his website.   

Sunday, November 17, 2013

New York Times Best Seller List (11/17/2013)


Note: Titles highlighted in BLUE are currently available for checkout. Titles highlighted in RED have been ordered and will be available for checkout soon.  

FICTION

1 SYCAMORE ROW by John Grisham

A sequel, about race and inheritance, to “A Time to Kill.”

2 AFTER DEAD by Charlaine Harris

A coda to the Sookie Stackhouse novels that inspired “True Blood.”

3 THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt

A painting smuggled out of the Metropolitan Museum of Art after a bombing becomes
a boy’s prize, guilt and burden.

4 WINNERS by Danielle Steel

Six people with intertwined lives, among them an aspiring Olympic skier who is gravely injur
ed, struggle to surmount challenges.

5 DOCTOR SLEEP by Stephen King

Now grown up, Dan, the boy with psycho-intuitive powers in “The Shining,” helps ano
ther threatened child with a gift.

6 THE LONGEST RIDE by Nicholas Sparks

The lives of two couples converge unexpectedly.

7 ACCUSED by Lisa Scottoline

Mary DiNunzio is now a partner at the all-women Philadelphia law firm of Rosato & Associates.

8 S. by Doug Dorst.

In a project conceived by the writer and director J.J. Abrams, the facsimile of a novel
published in 1949 contains marginal annotations, postcards, newspaper clipping s and other objects.
Two of the annotators are students who flirt and spar and begin to decode the novel's mystery.

9 WE ARE WATER by Wally Lamb

About to marry the woman who is her gallery owner, a divorced artist and mother must confront
secrets from her past.

10 IDENTICAL by Scott Turow

Paul Giannis, running for mayor of Kindle County, is accused of having played a role in the
murder of his twin brother's girlfriend.

11 FIFTEEN MINUTES by Karen Kingsbury

Fame turns the head of a contestant on a reality TV show. Can he regain what is important
in his life?

12 AIMLESS LOVE by Billy Collins

More than 50 new poems as well as selections from previous books from the two -term poet
laureate of the United States.

13 THE LUMINARIES by Eleanor Catton.

A murder mystery set in 19th-century New Zealand; winner of the 2013 Man Booker Prize.

14 STORM FRONT by John Sandford

The Minnesota investigator Virgil Flowers becomes involved in the hunt for an ancient
inscribed stone.

15 THE CIRCLE by Dave Eggers

A dystopian novel about life at a powerful Internet company.

16 GONE by James Patterson

Detective Michael Bennett, living with his 10 adopted children on a California farm, is pursued
by the head of a Mexican drug cartel he once put in jail. 

Saturday, November 16, 2013

New Additions to the Library This Week

Black Hills by Dan Simmons

When Paha Sapa, a young Sioux warrior, "counts coup" on General George Armstrong Custer as Custer lies dying on the battlefield at the Little Bighorn, the legendary general's ghost enters him - and his voice will speak to him for the rest of his event-filled life.

Seamlessly weaving together the stories of Paha Sapa, Custer, and the American West, Dan Simmons depicts a tumultuous time in the history of both Native and white Americans. Haunted by Custer's ghost, and also by his ability to see into the memories and futures of legendary men like Sioux war-chief Crazy Horse, Paha Sapa's long life is driven by a dramatic vision he experienced as a boy in his people's sacred Black Hills.

In August of 1936, a dynamite worker on the massive Mount Rushmore project, Paha Sapa plans to silence his ghost forever and reclaim his people's legacy-on the very day FDR comes to Mount Rushmore to dedicate the Jefferson face.


For more information on Dan Simmons and his latest works visit his website.  

Restless Heart by Wynonna Judd

The New York Times bestselling author and country music sensation presents her heartwarming debut novel.

Success on the musical stage is all Destiny ever wanted, and when she finds it, she feels as if her dreams have come true. But with the exhilarating rush of success comes a price-and a battle to recapture the traditions that were her foundation. Struggling to reconnect with the things that matter most, Destiny is putting an unexpected new spin on her own career-one that will redirect her professional and personal life in ways she never imagined. 


Written with genuine heart and emotion, Wynonna Judd's accessible debut novel is a celebration of family and friends, of love and loss, of success and surrender, and of one woman's inspiring path of self- discovery.

For more information on Wynonna Judd and her latest works visit her website. 
 
A Pug's Tale by Alison Pace

Hope McNeill has worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for years, but this is the first time she's been able to bring along her pug, Max (without sneaking him in in her tote bag). 

The occasion is a party for an Animals in 19th-Century Art exhibit, but the evening ends badly when a small but important painting seems to be missing. The Met needs Hope's-and Max's-help. 

And Hope has to keep it all a secret from her beloved, Manhattan DA Ben Brown.


For more information on Alison Pace and her latest works visit her website. 

Shotgun Moon by K.C. McRae

Merry McCoy has served her time. Convicted of killing the man who raped her four years earlier, Merry returns to the family ranch in Hazel, Montana, where she plans to steer clear of the law. But when her cousin Lauri is accused of murdering a cheating boyfriend, Merry can't let her be railroaded the same way she was.

Setting out to prove Lauri's innocence, Merry gets close to her former flame, Officer Jamie Gutierrez, the one cop in town she can trust. With Jamie and a no-holds-barred parole officer backing her up, Merry discovers the town's good old boys--and girls--like to play rough. 


Still reeling from the violent events of her past, Merry may be too broken to survive the bloody shootout that erupts at her ranch.


For more information on K.C. McRae and her latest works visit her website. 
 

Rachel's Garden by Marta Perry

It has been almost a year since the Amish community of Pleasant Valley lost Ezra Brand to tragedy. Now his wife Rachel struggles to raise their three children and run their farm.

Rachel's friends and family have come forward to help. But all of their constant advice, however well intentioned, puts undue pressure on Rachel. And when Gideon Zook, Ezra's best friend, asks her permission to build the greenhouse Ezra had always promised her, she finds his presence too painful a reminder of losing her husband.

As spring turns to summer, and Rachel puts her heart into growing the plants that have always brought her joy, can she discover the courage to embrace new beginnings?



For more information on Marta Perry and her latest works visit her website. 
 

Valley of Dreams by Lauraine Snelling
Wild West Wind Series Book # 1

Exciting New Series by Beloved Author Lauraine Snelling.
 
Addy Lockwood's mother died when she was little, so Addy traveled with her father's Wild West Show and became an amazingly skillful trick rider, likened by some to the famous Annie Oakley. When her father died, she continued to work with the show, having nowhere else to go. 


Now Addy has discovered that "Uncle" Jason, the show's manager, has driven the show into debt, and he's absconded with what little money was left. Devastated, Addy decides to try to find the hidden valley where here father had dreamed of putting down roots. She has only one clue. She needs to find three huge stones that look like fingers raised in a giant hand. With Chief, a Sioux Indian who's been with the show for twenty years, and Micah, the head wrangler, she leaves both the show and a bundle of heartache behind and begins a wild and daring adventure.


For more information on Lauraine Snelling and her latest works visit her website.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A Spooktacular Halloween Storytime




Here's a quick look at all of the fun we had on Halloween at Storytime. Our volunteer reader of the week, Lisa, captivated superheroes, witches, faeries, and other exciting creatures with her bookworm costume.

We played several Halloween-themed games...

 Ghost Poop Race

Pin-the-Nose-on-the-Pumpkin

Spider Splat 

Skeleton Scavenger Hunt and Puzzle

Skeleton Scavenger Hunt and Puzzle

Once everyone had a chance to play all of our spooky games we headed for the table of delicious treats for a plate full of sugar. Some of the mysterious masked kiddos made their way back to the table several times.



After consuming all of the delightful snacks it was time for us to fill their Trick-or-Treat bags and send them on the hunt for more.

Waiting for Treats

Do we have enough treats?