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NEW BOOKS
Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie Crusie (Bet Me) is back on her own-after a couple of books written with Bob Mayer-with a sweet, offbeat romantic tale of second chances. Thirty-four-year-old Andie, hoping to cut the ties that still bind her to rich ex-hubby North, winds up instead getting drafted to "fix" the troubled orphaned children of North's cousin, who live with a grouchy housekeeper and a crew of ghosts that have an interest in the kids and their gothic mansion home. But there's no ordinary fix for this unruly bunch of living and undead as Andie tries to cajole them all-troubled and lonely kids Alice and Carter, dead aunt May aiming for a do-over, newly dead Dennis, and ancient spooks Miss J and Peter-into moving on. Crusie's created a sharp cast of lonely souls, wacky weirdos, ghosts both good and bad, and unlikely heroes who are brave enough to give life and love one more try. You don't have to believe in the afterlife to relish this fun, bright romp. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
The weather of the future: heat waves, extreme storms, and other scenes from a climate-changed planet by Heidi Cullen
This engrossing study predicts global warming scenarios for seven hot spots around the world-and evaluates the responses of communities, governments, and international organizations. Cullen, a climatologist, notes that "just as our brain is hardwired to perceive threats that are most immediate to us, we are hardwired to devote more energy to caring about the weather than to caring about the climate," and that "by the time you see it in the weather... it's too late." With some ecosystems, such as the overtaxed Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which the entire state of California depends on for water, "people would rather simply hope for a happy ending." In contrast, in the Arctic, the Inuit are responding to climate change and incorporating technology into their traditional hunting methods, and New York City "has decided to fix the climate bug now" with its Climate Change Adaptation Task Force. Despite the worry among scientists that humans will follow "the woolly mammoth, the symbol of a climate that no longer exists," the book presents a surprisingly optimistic view of humanity's determination to come to terms with a daunting future. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
The fall of the house of Walworth: a tale of madness and murder in gilded age America by Geoffrey O'Brien
The prestigious Walworth family of Saratoga, N.Y., built a fortune on Judge Walworth's 1830s legal success, only to lose everything after his grandson's nationally sensational 1873 parricide trial, the first test case of New York's new definition of first-degree murder. O'Brien, editor of the Library of America and author of Hardboiled America, uses diaries, newspaper accounts, and court records to create a lively multigenerational family history of ambition, hereditary insanity, and loyalty through the antebellum, Civil War, and Gilded Age eras. Judge Walworth's foppish son, Mansfield, married his stepsister Ellen in 1852 only to systematically abuse her and then periodically discard her for years at a time, including a long separation during the Civil War when Ellen lived in her battered native Kentucky. When Judge Walworth left Mansfield with little inheritance, the moderately successful writer penned explicit death threats to Ellen (now his exwife) and their children, resulting in his unstable 19-year-old son murdering him in 1873. O'Brien effortlessly stitches together the story of two families who intermarry with great potential, only to realize complete disintegration, including the great Walworth Mansion, which has been replaced by a gas station. 16 pages of illus. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
Nobody does the Tudors better than Gregory (The Other Boleyn Girl), so it should come as no surprise that her latest-the War of the Roses as seen through the eyes of Henry VII's mother -is confident, colorful, convincing, and full of conflict, betrayal, and political maneuvering. Gregory gives readers Margaret Beaufort in her own words, from innocent nine-year-old to conspiring courtier who stops at nothing to see her son on England's throne. Gregory devotees will note the difference between the supernaturally gifted Yorkist White Queen and Lancastrian Margaret, who, despite saintly aspirations, grows worldly through three marriages; a powerless widow at 13, remarried and separated from her only son by 15, it is not until she's 29 that Margaret is ready to realize her most audacious ambitions. Gregory clones have made historical novels from a woman's perspective far too familiar to make this seem as fresh as her earlier works. Yet, like Margaret Beaufort, Gregory puts her many imitators to shame by dint of unequalled energy, focus, and unwavering execution. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
DREAM QUEEN: A MYSTERY by Betsy Thornton
Thornton's gripping sixth mystery featuring victim's advocate Chloe Newcombe (after 2008's A Song for You) charts her earlier years, long before she moved to Arizona. Two years after her older brother, James, died of AIDS in California, Chloe, then a New York City PI, travels to Dudley, Ariz., a small town where Tucson therapist Hal, James's surviving partner, has a home, and where Danny, her younger brother, has fallen for Kristi Marsh, a beautiful but troubled woman. Danny and Kristi meet Chloe at the airport, but en route to Dudley tragedy strikes-Danny disappears after they stop to fix his van at a garage while the two women wait at a diner across the street. Kristi also vanishes soon after they reach Hal's, but she's later found shot to death in a shack containing packages of a street drug called "Dream Queen." Kristi's stepfather, a therapist friend of Hal's, hires Chloe to investigate. As she uncovers a bizarre coverup, Chloe comes to some sticky realizations in this multilayered literary whodunit. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
DANCING BACKWARDS by SALLEY VICKERS
Leaving her grown sons in Britain, recently widowed Violet Hetherington takes a six-day transatlantic cruise to New York to look up an old friend whom she let down decades before. Naturally shy, Violet is drawn out of her shell by a fascinating cast of fellow seafarers, including the crude Les Garson and his long-suffering wife, Valerie; the wise Miss Foot; dance instructor Dino, a suave Briton with a fake Italian accent; anxious steward Renato; cheerful couple Ken and Jen Morrison; and intellectual Americans Martha Cheever and Balthazar Lincoln. Taking the advice of Miss Foot to heart-"The world always responds if we listen"-Violet, taken by her new companions, follows her instinct to dance, and gets closer to Dino, who helps Violet reconcile her traumatic past. Interwoven with the at-sea narrative are vignettes from Violet's past, including her unhappy life with abusive first husband Bruno, which sheds light on her personality quirks, her emotionally risky journey, and her long-abandoned dreams. The latest from British author and literature professor Vickers is a moving story of a good second-chance romance. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
---------- Almost New!!! ---------- |
Agaat by Marlene van Niekerk
Sixty-seven-year-old Milla lies on her deathbed, reliving more than 40 years spent on the family farm outside of Swellendam in South Africa. Ravaged by ALS, she can communicate only by blinking her eyes. Milla's black maid, Agaat, is her sole caretaker. The two share a more significant bond than that between Milla and Jak, her brutish, self-centered husband. It even surpasses Milla's connection to her son, Jakkie. Agaat reveals their complex past, a past further complicated because Agaat becomes Jakkie's nanny and principal companion despite her displacement as Milla's "adopted" daughter once Jakkie is born. Agaat cares for Milla, yet the caretaking duties reveal her frustration and fatigue, and the disease's progression has significantly altered their relationship's balance of power. Van Niekerk skillfully leads readers through the decades of Milla's life, remarkably combining second-person reminiscences with Milla's first-person diary entries. Ultimately, their story is a powerful allegory of the story of modern South Africa. Winner of the Sunday Times (South Africa) Fiction Prize in 2007. Copyright Reed Business Information.
Black mamba boy by Nadifa Mohamed
Mohamed's beautifully rendered debut, inspired by her father's life, opens in 1935 Aden, Yemen, where 11-year-old Jama and his mother subsist in precarious destitution: Jama spending his days on the streets with other "market boys" while his mother works long hours for little pay at a coffee factory. When his mother dies, Jama briefly returns to his family's home in Hargeisa before running away to search for his long-absent father, who he believes is in Sudan. His quest leads Jama into Italian-controlled Eritrea, where he joins Mussolini's Fascists in exchange for food and shelter, and Mohamed delivers graphic descriptions of the horrifically savage treatment the African askaris received at the hands of the Italians. After the Italians are deposed, Jama settles for a few years into village life, before his wanderings take him to Egypt. Jama is a charming protagonist whose peregrinations-assisted by clansmen, kind strangers, and ghostly visitations-are directed more by historical and biographical significance than by the demands of plot. Mohamed vividly recreates the complex atmosphere of the era, and her personal investment in the story gives it a passionate edge. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
Digital Download - Adobe EPUB eBook
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
The stunning third and final novel in Stieg Larsson's internationally best-selling trilogy
Lisbeth Salander--the heart of Larsson's two previous novels--lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She's fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she'll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge--against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.
~Description excerpted from the Digital Download Center
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