Library New Items

"A kinetic, globetrotting novel following three siblings--Jewish and downwardly mobile--from 2001 to 2034, as they come of age against the major crises of the 21st century."-- Provided by publisher.

"The lives of working class Mexican America, where everyday stories offer a portal to myth and fable. This collection of eleven stories is the newest installment of an ongoing, multi-volume literary documentary project, penned by one of the contemporary legends of Chicanx literature. Dagoberto Gilb's cast of characters includes a young family whose exposure to a mysterious cloud of gas alters their lives forever; a high school dropout whose choice to learn the ways of the world from the adults at work in his uncle's industrial laundry leads him into a dangerous dalliance; a former high-rise union carpenter who agrees to meet up with an eager old flame; an aging Chicano, living alone, whose children watch over him for signs of decline; and more. These are stories about working class people who come and go mostly unnoticed or ignored, whose lives are not fodder for literary tropes or cliches. They are neither heroes nor villains, just regular people with their flaws and merits, facing the challenges and questions posed by everyday life. Gilb writes in a distinctive, appealing voice, welcoming the reader in with an easy sense of familiarity, and the effect is spare on the surface, but profound. Deftly capturing the nuances of interpersonal relationships in a simple word or gesture, he peels back the surface of seemingly unremarkable encounters to reveal layers of myth and uncanny surrealism, propelled by the momentum of new, changing times"-- Provided by publisher.

The American Vice President explores the little-known story of the second-highest office in the land, tracing its evolution from a constitutional afterthought to a position of political consequence.

Maverick director Peter Bogdanovich affectionately recreates the world of the 1930s Dust Bowl in this beloved, briskly entertaining chronicle of one of cinema's unlikeliest crime sprees. Real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O'Neal (who became the youngest-ever Oscar winner for her spark-plug performance) play off each other with almost musical agility as a Bible-hawking con man and the precocious, recently orphaned tomboy who falls into his care and soon rivals her newfound father figure's skill as a swindler.

Academy Award Nominee Ian McKellen stars as a powerful London theater critic who lures a struggling actress into a blackmail scheme with deadly consequences.

When an American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation, what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare.

"More than a century after he dominated American politics, Woodrow Wilson still fascinates. With panoramic sweep, Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn reassesses his life and his role in the movements for racial equality and women's suffrage. The Wilson that emerges is a man superbly unsuited to the moment when he ascended to the presidency in 1912, as the struggle for women's voting rights in America reached the tipping point. The first southern Democrat to occupy the White House since the Civil War era brought with him to Washington like-minded men who quickly set to work segregating the federal government. Wilson's own sympathy for Jim Crow and states' rights animated his years-long hostility to the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, which promised universal suffrage backed by federal enforcement. Women demonstrating for voting rights found themselves demonized in government propaganda, beaten and starved while illegally imprisoned, and even confined to the insane asylum. When, in the twilight of his second term, two-thirds of Congress stood on the threshold of passing the Anthony Amendment, Wilson abruptly switched his position. But in sympathy with like-minded southern Democrats, he acquiesced in "race rider" that would protect Jim Crow. The heroes responsible for the eventual success of the unadulterated Anthony Amendment are brought to life by Christopher Cox, an author steeped in the ways of Washington and political power. This is a brilliant, carefully researched work that puts you at the center of one of the greatest advances in the history of American democracy"-- Provided by publisher.

Sir Nicholas Winton rescued 669 Jewish children from Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia at the brink of World War II. Most never saw their parents again. This is his story. In 1938, 29-year-old 'Nicky' cancelled a ski holiday and instead spent 9 months masterminding a seemingly impossible plan to rescue hundreds of children and find them homes in the UK. There are around 6000 people who are alive today because of him. What motivated an ordinary man to do something so extraordinary? This book, written by his daughter, Barbara, explores the 106-year life of an incredible humanitarian, a man whose astounding feats only came to public light decades later. His legacy is to encourage us all to act when we see injustice or need, and to remind us that every one of us can change the world for the better.-- Publisher description.

"No one played like Jesse Ed Davis. One of the most sought-after guitarists of the late 1960s and '70s, Davis appeared alongside the era's greatest stars--John Lennon and Mick Jagger, B.B. King and Bob Dylan--and contributed to dozens of major releases, including numerous top-ten albums and singles, and records by artists as distinct as Johnny Cash, Taj Mahal, and Cher. But Davis, whose name has nearly disappeared from the annals of rock and roll history, was more than just the most versatile session guitarist of the decade. A multitalented musician who paired bright flourishes with soulful melodies, Davis transformed our idea of what rock music could be and, crucially, who could make it. At a time when few other Indigenous artists appeared on concert stages, radio waves, or record store walls, in a century often depicted as a period of decline for Native Americans, Davis and his Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne, Seminole, and Mvskoke relatives demonstrated new possibilities for Native people. Weaving together more than a hundred interviews with Davis's bandmates, family members, friends, and peers--among them Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, and Robbie Robertson--Washita Love Child powerfully reconstructs Davis's extraordinary life and career, taking us from his childhood in Oklahoma to his first major gig backing rockabilly star Conway Twitty, and from his dramatic performance at George Harrison's 1971 Concert for Bangladesh to his years with John Trudell and the Grafitti Man band. In Davis's story, a post-Beatles Lennon especially emerges as a kindred soul and creative partner. Yet Davis never fully recovered from Lennon's sudden passing, meeting his own tragic demise just eight years later. With a foreword by former poet laureate Joy Harjo, who collaborated with Davis near the end of his life, Washita Love Child thoroughly and finally restores the "red dirt boogie brother" to his rightful place in rock history, cementing his legacy for generations to come." -- Amazon

Actor Tom Selleck chronicles his life both in show business and away from it in this long-awaited memoir. Selleck is best known as the star of Magnum, P.I., one of the most popular and enduring television shows of the eighties, and of Blue Bloods, where he plays New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan, but his career is longer, and richer, than those two hits suggest.

The Carryx--part empire, part hive--are facing their greatest enemy yet. To survive, they capture and decimate a human colony, forcing their best and brightest in a competition to beat their foe.

When African jihadis attack a Nigerian regiment using American weapons, Cabrillo and the Oregon crew are on the case, investigating from Afghanistan to Kuala Lumpur to track a mysterious arms dealer-a genius, or perhaps a devil, known only as the Vendor. Cabrillo goes undercover to find the Vendor's base, but his adversary isn't just an arms smuggler. He's an arms maker, and Cabrillo just walked into a lethal military game alongside the most dangerous mercenaries in the world, designed to test the Vendor's cutting-edge AI arsenal. And yet, surviving an arena full of flame-throwing robots isn't even his biggest problem. The Vendor has an army of high-speed drones headed for a pivotal military site, and if the Oregon crew can't stop them from releasing a deadly neurotoxin, the entire globe will erupt in conflict.

"On a weekend trip to the Scottish countryside, American transplant Stella, and British aristocrat, Viscount "Lyndy" Lyndhurst, learn how sinister bad sportsmanship can be when a prestigious golf tournament becomes a deadly game of murder.."-- Provided by publisher.

2024.

"When Regis Royle dreams, he dreams big. And since everything's bigger in Texas, his dream is to make the Royle Ranch the biggest cattle supplier in the country. Problem is, the country is splitting apart, people are taking sides, and everyone's gearing up for a full-blown War Between the States. Regis's kid brother, Shepley, has enlisted in the Army. His trusted foreman "Bone" McGraw has left to rejoin the Texas Rangers. And the rail lines have been rerouted for the war effort. Which means Regis has to transport his cows the hard way: a cattle drive. This will be one hellish journey he'll never forget. If he survives. With only a skeleton crew of ranch hands, Regis takes the lead to drive the cattle northward -- facing more perils than he ever imagined. He and his men are attacked by a brutal, thieving band of Apache, Comanche, Kiowa, and half-breeds. They're plagued by violent storms, relentless heat, stampeding herds, and poisonous snakes. When Regis gets separated from his men, he fears he's reached the end of the line. But giving up is not an option. A Texan knows he has to keep fighting -- even in America's darkest hour -- to keep the dream alive ..." -- Provided by publisher.

"In the dusty frontier town of Rebel Ridge, Sheriff Jesse Loman rules with an iron fist, exploiting the local populace through unjust taxes and a corrupt legal system. His gang of outlaw deputies ensures his dominance, staging mock trials and sentencing innocents to the gallows while protecting their own. But when chaos grips Rebel Ridge, hope arises in the form of a legendary bounty hunter. Renowned for his unwavering principles, Dane Caulder reluctantly steps in to free the town from Jesse's grasp, pitting himself against corrupt deputies in a deadly showdown. Can Dane deliver the long-awaited justice that the oppressed town of Rebel Ridge yearns for-or will its chance at peace be slaughtered once and for all?"-- Provided by publisher.

"Reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter is relieved to be headed back to Paterson, New Jersey, after a week-long family vacation in the Adirondacks. He's ready to put the holly jolly season way behind him and settle in at home with his three dogs. But when they finally arrive, there is an extra dog eagerly awaiting them, as well as one anxious dog sitter. When the dog showed up on the doorstep a few days ago, the sitter knew Andy would know what to do. Indeed, Andy recognizes Murphy, who the Carpenters fostered before the dog went home with BJ Bremer and his mother. BJ wanted to learn all he could about caring for Murphy, which made Andy like him immediately. When Andy goes to take Murphy back to the Bremers, though, instead of the happy reunion he expects, he finds BJ's mother in tears. It turns out Murphy ran off... after BJ was arrested for murder. Andy had hoped for a quiet Christmas vacation, but he likes Murphy's family and his golden retriever, Tara, likes Murphy, so he can't resist getting involved. The case isn't as simple as Andy thought it would be, though, with BJ suspected of murdering one of his professors. With nothing to go on but Andy's own conviction in BJ's dog-loving character, proving his innocence would be a Christmas miracle."-- Provided by publisher.

"Ember Lee Cardinal has not always been a liar. But her job search falters, she takes matters into her own hands. No one wanted Native American Ember, but white Ember has just landed her dream accounting job. She thrives in corporate life - and her love life is looking up as well: Danuwoa Colson, the IT guy and fellow Native who caught her eye, seems to be interested in her too. But when they're caught in a compromising position on a work trip, a colleague blackmails Ember about their relationship. As threats grow, so do Ember's lies, and she must decide between silence and the truth -- which could cost her everything." -- Back cover.

"Professional football players Keogh Graham and Tyler Matthews want to open a Fairy Tale Cupcakes franchise. They're spending the off-season in Mel's bakery, learning about the business and how to bake show-stopping cupcakes. Everyone's excited the athletes are pursuing their dream--except for those who fear the players will retire early from professional sports. When the owner of their team is found dead on the floor of their bakery following an argument with Keogh, the pros become prime suspects. As the investigation heats up, Mel must step up and prove her franchise owners are innocent before it's game-over for the new bakers"-- Back cover.

"Under Heaven's Own Blue is a collection of short fiction. In "Truth and Principle," detective Henry Tresh helps a woman find the truth about the death of her son. In "Double Deceit," detective Dunbar is tracking a malefactor who killed a woman and is now conducting a medical practice without a license. In "Bitter Range," ranch hand Orin Blake becomes caught up in an intrigue in which a former ranch hand is discovered to be having an affair with the wife of Blake's boss. In "Shadow of the Butte," Vance Luverne moves to Wyoming to take over a homestead left to him by his late uncle." --Provided by Publisher.

Two years ago, Zara Miller found herself heartbroken and stranded in a New Orleans hotel bar with a sexy stranger named "Saint." One thing led to another and to a night of unforgettable pleasure. Though contact info wasn't exchanged--no strings attached--Zara hasn't been able to stop thinking about him or that one scorching night ever since. Now she's returned to her hometown of Catalina Cove only to discover that her brother's new hire is Evans "Saint" Toussaint, the one-night man she can't forget. Though Saint, like Zara, grew up in Catalina Cove, they'd never crossed paths. Now all of a sudden they can't seem to avoid each other. Despite an enduring attraction, Zara and Saint decide to keep their spicy secret in the past. Everybody knows everybody's business in Catalina Cove, and they don't need everybody knowing theirs--especially since they've both been burned in the past. But when their intense desire becomes impossible to ignore, they escape to Zara's secluded cottage on Pelican Bay, where they're free to explore whether their casual connection might actually be the lasting love they've both been missing.

"For years as an award-winning war reporter, Sebastian Junger traveled to many front lines and frequently put his life at risk. And yet the closest he ever came to death was the summer of 2020 while spending a quiet afternoon at home with his wife and children Crippled by abdominal pain, Junger was rushed to the hospital. As blackness encroached, he was visited by his dead father. That was the last thing Junger remembered until he came to the next day. In My Time of Dying is part medical drama, part searing autobiography, and part rational inquiry into the ultimate unknowable mystery"-- Back cover.

As we emerge from the past few years of collective upheaval, are we ready to face the complexities of our time with joy, authenticity, and connection? Now more than ever, we must learn to heal ourselves, connect with one another, and embody our values. In this revolutionary book, Prentis Hemphill shows us how. What It Takes to Heal asserts that the principles of embodiment--the recognition of our body's sensations and habits, and the beliefs that inform them--are critical to lasting healing and change. Hemphill, an expert embodiment practitioner, therapist, and activist who has partnered with Breň Brown, Tarana Burke, and Esther Perel, among others, shows us that we don't have to carry our emotional burdens alone. Hemphill demonstrates a future in which healing is done in community, weaving together stories from their own experience as a trauma survivor with clinical accounts and lessons learned from their time as a social movement architect. They ask, "What would it do to movements, to our society and culture, to have the principles of healing at the very center? And what does it do to have healing at the center of every structure and everything we create?" In this life-affirming framework for the way forward, Hemphill shows us how to heal our bodies, minds, and souls--to develop the interpersonal skills necessary to break down the doors of disconnection and take the necessary risks to reshape our world toward justice.

"Former presidents have an unusual place in American life. King George III believed that George Washington's departure after two terms made him "the greatest character of the age." But Alexander Hamilton worried former presidents might "[wander] among the people like ghosts." They were both right. Life After Power tells the stories of seven former presidents, from the Founding to today. Each changed history. Each offered lessons about how to decide what to do in the next chapter of life. Thomas Jefferson was the first former president to accomplish great things after the White House, shaping public debates and founding the University of Virginia, an accomplishment he included on his tombstone, unlike his presidency. John Quincy Adams served in Congress and became a leading abolitionist, passing the torch to Abraham Lincoln. Grover Cleveland was the only president in American history to serve a nonconsecutive term. William Howard Taft became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Herbert Hoover shaped the modern conservative movement, led relief efforts after World War II, reorganized the executive branch, and reconciled John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Jimmy Carter had the longest post-presidency in American history, advancing humanitarian causes, human rights, and peace. George W. Bush made a clean break from politics, bringing back George Washington's precedent, and reminding the public that the institution of the presidency is bigger than any person. Jared Cohen explores the untold stories in the final chapters of these presidents' lives, offering a gripping and illuminating account of how they went from President of the United States one day, to ordinary citizens the next. He tells how they handled very human problems of ego, finances, and questions about their legacy and mortality. He shows how these men made history after they left the White House"-- Provided by publisher.

"In 2002, Bill Zehme landed an interview with Johnny Carson--the only one he'd granted since retiring from hosting The Tonight Show a decade earlier. Shortly after Carson's death in 2005, Zehme signed a contract to do an expansive biography. He toiled on the book for nearly a decade before a cancer diagnosis halted his progress. The hundreds of pages Zehme managed to complete are astounding both for the caliber of their writing and how they illuminate one of the most inscrutable figures in entertainment history. Completed with help from Zehme's former research assistant Mike Thomas, Carson the Magnificent offers an honest assessment of who Johnny Carson really was."-- Provided by publisher.

"I never imagined I would make it to the Olympics, or be at this level, or write a book about this unlikely career that I've had. But I've really enjoyed the ride, this journey." Katie Ledecky is one of the best swimmers ever to compete. She has won more individual Olympic races than any female swimmer in history. A three-time Olympian, a seven-time gold medalist, a twenty-one-time world champion, eight-time NCAA Champion, and world record-holder in individual swimming events, Ledecky shares what it takes to compete at an elite level. Again and again, Katie Ledecky has broken records: those of others and, increasingly, her own. She is both consistent and innovative--consistent at setting goals and shattering them, and innovative in the way she approaches her training. A true competitor, she sets her goals by choosing the ones that feel the scariest. But, crucially, she never sacrifices the joy of competition, even in the face of adversity. Her positive mental outlook and a great support system provides the springboard to her success. This candid and inspiring memoir charts Ledecky's life in swimming. It details her start in Bethesda, Maryland, where she played sharks and minnows and first discovered the joy of the pool; her early foray into the Olympics at the tender age of fifteen where, as the youngest member of the American team, she stunned everyone by winning her first gold medal; her time balancing competition and her education at Stanford University; how she developed a champion's mindset that has allowed her to persevere through so many meets, even under intense pressure; and how she has maintained her dominance in a sport where success depends on milliseconds. You learn how every element of her life--from the support of her family to the tutelage of her coaches, from her childhood spent in summer league swimming to the bright lights of Olympic pools in London, Rio, and Tokyo--set her up to become the champion she is. In the end, Katie's story is about testing yourself against the difficult, and seeing who you become on the other side"-- Provided by publisher.

"The twists and turns of American politics are unpredictable, but the tone is a troubling given. It's one of grievance. More and more Americans are convinced that they're losing because somebody else is winning. More and more tally their slights, measure their misfortune, and assign particular people responsibility for it. The blame game has become the country's most popular sport and victimhood its most fashionable garb. Grievance needn't be bad. It has done enormous good. The United States is a nation born of grievance, and across the nearly two hundred and fifty years of our existence as a country, grievance has been the engine of morally urgent change. But what happens when all sorts of grievances--the greater ones, the lesser ones, the authentic, the invented--are jumbled together? When people take their grievances to lengths that they didn't before? A violent mob storms the US Capitol, rejecting the results of a presidential election. Conspiracy theories flourish. Fox News knowingly peddles lies in the service of profit. College students chase away speakers, and college administrators dismiss instructors for dissenting from progressive orthodoxy. Benign words are branded hurtful; benign gestures are deemed hostile. And there's a potentially devastating erosion of the civility, common ground, and compromise necessary for our democracy to survive. How did we get here? What does it say about us, and where does it leave us? The Age of Grievance examines these critical questions and charts a path forward"-- Provided by publisher.

"In What Would Reagan Do? former New Jersey governor Chris Christie takes a fresh look at President Ronald Reagan's character-driven political instincts and deeply impactful relationships across party lines--finding plenty of compelling insights for our current national dysfunction. Building on lessons from his own hardscrabble upbringing, Reagan transformed the Republican Party and the political landscape forever. Two decades after Reagan's death, Christie shows how the life lessons of the beloved president are more alive than ever--and can restore American leadership again"-- Back cover.

"We all know people who seem capable of connecting with almost anyone. They are the ones we turn to for advice, the ones who ask deep questions but also seem to hear what we are trying to say. What do they know about conversation that makes them so special? And what can they tell us about how communication really works? Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg argues, understand--some by intuition, some by hard-won experience--that there is a science to how human beings connect through words. They understand that whenever we speak, we're actually participating in one of three distinct conversations: What is this really about? How do we feel? And who are we? They know the importance of recognizing--and then matching--each kind of conversation, and how to hear the complex emotions, subtle negotiations and hidden beliefs that color and inform everything we say. Our pasts, our values, our affiliations, our identities shape every discussion we have, from who will pick up the kids to how we want to be treated at work"-- Provided by publisher" --Back cover.

"After a lifetime of war, Alaric and Talasyn were thrust into an alliance between their homelands that was supposed to end the fighting; however, being married to their sworn foe feels far from peaceful. Now Talasyn must play the part of Alaric's willing empress while her allies secretly plot to overthrow his reign. But the longer the couple are forced together, the harder it becomes to deny the feelings crackling like lightning between them. When the time comes to act, can she trust him, or must she ignore her heart for the sake of somany others?"-- Provided by publisher.

Pablo Ortiz is an anxious sixth-grader who had absolutely no idea his locker was a portal to the monster realm, and absolutely no desire to be the hero called to defeat the Aztec goddess who has come through it. Good thing he has new friends schooled in fighting and an abuela who has the wisdom and weapons to give him in order to be successful.

When a powerful magical artifact is stolen from his carefully ordered home, The Inscrutable Dr. Baer, a collector and protector of arcane treasures, must embark on the first adventure of his life.--Publisher.

"In The Valley, best friends Haru and Yama both dream of leaving as they're bullied at school, frustrated at home, and struggling to figure out who they are. One day, a powerful artifact connects itself to Yama, and they discover that they'll have to journey to The Beacon in search of answers. Created by artist Joe Latham, this beautifully illustrated graphic novel series is a coming-of-age tale that spans the changing of seasons. Beginning in spring and ending in spring--the cycle complete. A story of heart, growing up, and the sacrifices we make for those we love, Haru is perfect for middle-grade readers."--Amazon.

Marco makes the BEST sandwiches in the entire world! When he wants to chow down after school, he's got all the ingredients he needs: Mom's fresh baked hoagie roll, three slices of bologna, cheddar cheese, crispy lettuce, and the most important ingredient of all: special sauce! But something super strange is afoot when--out of nowhere--Marco's sandwich begins to talk... Turns out, Marco's miraculous meal might be his best friend ever! The two quickly bond over sweet tunes and stinky cheese, but will a squad of breakdancing squirrels bring an end to this friendship before it truly begins?

As conceptual artist Sabine prepares for a critical photo exhibition, she spirals into her own neuroses, seeking validation from her rational husband, TikTok followers, and a mysterious stalker, while her eccentric alter egos and the ghost of Carolee Schneemann offer cryptic guidance.

"When Yojin moves with her husband and daughter into the Dream Future Pilot Communal Apartments, she's ready for a fresh start. Located on the outskirts of Seoul, the experimental community is a government initiative designed to boost the national birth rate. Like her neighbors, Yojin has agreed to have at least two more children over the next ten years. Yet, from the day she arrives, Yojin feels uneasy about the community spirit thrust upon her. Her concerns grow as communal child care begins and the other parents show their true colors. Apartment Women traces the lives of four women in the apartments, all with different aspirations and beliefs. Will they find a way to live peacefully? Or are the cultural expectations around parenthood stacked against them from the start? A trenchant social novel from an award-winning author, Apartment Women incisively illuminates the unspoken imbalance of women's parenting labor, challenging the age-old assumption that "it takes a village" to raise a child"-- Provided by publisher.

All Samantha Williams wants to do is to use her teaching degree to instruct a classroom of second graders. But, after a breast cancer diagnosis at the age of twenty-three, and failed reconstruction surgery, Sam finds herself without a job and temporarily living with her parents. This isn't the life Same expected. When a family friend dies and leaves Sam a house and land in Whispering Creek, Tennessee, Sam must decide if leaving Wisconsin for Southern living is in her lesson plans. Nashville native, Cole Donoven, left his family's electrical business to write country music. When Cole's song-writing partner and girlfriend dumps him for a country music star, Cole abandons Nashville to hole up in Whispering Creek and compose one more song. The last thing Cole expects to find in the sleepy small town is a deceased friend, estate squabbles, and a Northern beauty. Will the chaos in Whispering Creek help create a bestselling song for Cole and possibly help him find a life-long collaborator?--Back cover.

"Beauty has been nothing but a curse to Penelope Snow, so she hides her fairness when she becomes a personal maid for a famous actress. But when her beauty is discovered, her mistress arranges her disappearance and leaves her stranded. Rescued by a Texas Ranger, Penelope is prepared to build a new life for herself . . . except the handsome Ranger she fancies suspects her of being a conniving jewel thief"-- Provided by publisher.

"In this atmospheric southern cozy debut, Madeline Brimley returns to the bookstore she inherited, discovering that small towns hold deadly secrets. Madeline Brimley left small town Georgia many years ago to go to college and pursue her dreams on the stage. Her dramatic escapades are many but success has eluded her, leaving her at loose ends. But then she gets word that not only has her beloved, eccentric Aunt Rose passed, but she's left Madeline her equally eccentric bookstore housed in an old Victorian mansion in the small college town of Enigma. But when she arrives in her beat-up Fiat to claim The Old Juniper Bookstore, and restart her life, Madeline is faced with unexpected challenges. The gazebo in the back yard is set ablaze and a late night caller threatens to burn the whole store down if she doesn't leave immediately. But Madeline Brimley, not one to be intimidated, ignores the threats and soldiers on. Until there's another fire and a murder in the store itself. Now with a cloud of suspicion falling over her, it's up to Madeline to untangle the skein of secrets and find the killer before she herself is the next victim"-- Provided by publisher.

"Meg's sister-in-law, Delaney is pregnant. Since her due date is on or around Christmas Day, this is putting a bit of a damper on the usual holiday festivities. Meg and Michael are NOT hosting the usual house full of relatives and parties. Instead, Meg, along with her mother, her grandmother, her cousin Rose Noire, and her good friend Caroline, are militantly doing everything they can think of to keep Delaney quiet and healthy. All the relatives are farmed out to friends and neighbors; all the parties are being held somewhere else, and while Delaney is bored and mutinous, she's doing well, and they're managing to maintain a serene, peaceful environment for her ... until a body is found in Meg and Michael's yard. Can Meg still keep Delaney calm in the middle of a murder investigation, all while trying to catch the killer?"-- Provided by publisher.

"Charlie Webb is a third-rate lawyer who graduated from a third-rate law school and, because he couldn't get hired by any of the major law firms, he's opened his own law firm. Described as a leaky boat floating down the stream of life, Charlie has led an unremarkable life, personally and professionally. Until he's appointed to be the attorney for a decidedly crackpot artist who calls himself Guido Sabatini (born Lawrence Weiss). Sabatini has been arrested -- again -- for breaking into a restaurant and stealing back a painting he sold them because he was insulted by where it was displayed. But as Lawrence Weiss, he's also an accomplished card shark and burglar and while he was there, he stole a thumb drive from the owner's safe. Not knowing what else Sabatini has stolen, Webb negotiates the return of the painting and "other items" in exchange for the owner dropping charges against Sabatini. But the contents of the flash drive threaten very powerful figures, and there are others who have a violent grudge against Sabatini. When a minor theft case becomes a major double homicide and more, Charlie Webb -- an insignificant lawyer assigned to an insignificant case -- is faced with the most important, and deadliest, case of his life."-- Provided by publisher.

All her life, Vaasa Kòzr has been sharpened into a blade. After losing her mother--her only remaining parent--to a mysterious dark magic that has since awakened within her, Vaasa is certain death looms. So is her merciless brother, who aims to eliminate Vaasa as a threat to his crown. In one last political scheme, he marries her off to Reid of Mireh, a ruthless foreign ruler, in hopes that he can use her death as a rallying cry to finally invade Reid's nation. All Vaasa has to do is die. But she is desperate to live.

"Dovey Van Dalen has a gorgeous day planned for her 200th birthday: driving her new Porsche, admiring the cherry blossoms abloom in her adopted city of Washington, D.C., and a little pampering. But her boss has other ideas. A powerful artifact has been stolen, and he fears it's causing chaos in the unmagical world... The rich and connected Ariti family has suffered a string of suspicious deaths, with no signs of foul play. Yet each member has died in the way they feared most. As the enchanting agent most skilled at blending in with mere mortals, Dovey must find answers and retrieve the dangerous trinket. There's just one unexpected wrinkle: By the time Dovey arrives at the art gallery where the Ariti patriarch died, FBI agent Grant "Gib" Barlow has taken control of the scene. Dovey needs his cooperation to investigate--but she'll have to hide her abilities, and her true objective, from a man who uncovers deceptions every day. And as they inch nearer a deadly truth, both will face danger even the spellbound would be lucky to survive..."-- Provided by publisher.

"Tara Selter, the heroine of On the Calculation of Volume, has involuntarily stepped off the train of time: in her world, November 18th repeats itself endlessly. We meet Tara on her 122nd November 18th: she no longer experiences the changes of days, weeks, months, or seasons. She finds herself in a lonely new reality without being able to explain why: how is it that she wakes every morning into the same day, knowing to the exact second when the blackbird will burst into song and when the rain will begin? Will she ever be able to share her new life with her beloved and now chronically befuddled husband? And on top of her profound isolation and confusion, Tara takes in with pain how slight a difference she makes in the world. (As she puts it: "That's how little the activities of one person matter on the 18th of November.") Balle is hypnotic and masterful in her remixing of the endless recursive day, creating curious little folds of time and foreshadowings: her memories of the past light up inside the text like old-fashioned flash bulbs. The first volume's gravitational pull-a force inverse to its constriction- has the effect of a strong tranquilizer, but a drug under which your powers of observation only grow sharper and more acute. Give in to the book's logic (the thrilling shifts, the minute movements, the slant wit, the slowing of time), and its spell is utterly intoxicating. Solvej Balle's seven-volume novel wrings enthralling and magical new dimensions from time and its hapless, mortal subjects. As one Danish reviewer beautifully put it, Balle's fiction consists of writing that listens: "Reading her is like being caressed by language itself.""-- Provided by publisher.

Radiant Basket of Rainbow Shells, scholar of curses and magical history, has spent several years on a research expedition abroad in Quruscan, one of the four kingdoms of the Tetrarchia. When Tetrarchia and Radiant's home country of Loasht suddenly revoke their tenuous peace, Quruscan is no longer the safe haven for Radiant that it once was. He needs someone to help him escape: a bodyguard, perhaps, or someone with the sheer cunning to escort him to safety. The perfect candidate is Kalyna Aljosanova: a crafty, mysterious mercenary with an uncanny reputation. But the political situation in Loasht is far more volatile and dangerous than Radiant left it; it soon becomes clear that he may never be able to return home to his family. With a little of Kalyna's signature guile, she finds Radiant asylum in a utopian community on the border between Loasht and the Tetrarchia, and, for a moment, it seems like they might finally have a safe place to stay. But when the group's charismatic leader grows wary of the refugees flocking to his community--and suspicious of Kalyna in particular--that sense of safety begins to unravel once more. Kalyna the Cutthroat deftly imagines how the pressures of heroism can warp even the most unshakeable of survivors, asking what responsibilities human beings have to one another, and whether one good deed--of any magnitude--can absolve you of your past for the sake of a future.

Despite unspoken feelings and a dangerous secret, lifelong best friends Sydney and Kyler must navigate their undeniable attraction while stranded at a posh ski resort.