Monday, November 4, 2013

Books ordered for November

Grow More With Less: Sustainable Garden Methods for Great Landscapes with * Less Water * Less Work * Less MoneyGrow More With Less: Sustainable Garden Methods for Great Landscapes with * Less Water * Less Work * Less Money   
  • Vincent A. Simeone
  • Synopsis
  • Horticultural expert Vincent Simeone helps you plan your green garden in this practical, holistic guide.

    With detailed, strategic timelines for both short-term and long-term gardening techniques, Grow More with Less lets you put your best foot forward in creating an efficient, sustainable home landscape. From composting and mulching to planting trees, author Vincent Simeone covers all the eco-friendly essentials in one straightforward handbook. Simeone makes the what, how, and why of sustainable gardening unmistakably clear: why we should plant for the long-term, how to make the best plant selections possible, how to manage invasive species, how to make the most of your lawn (regardless of its size), the importance of IPM (integrated pest management) in fighting insects and pests, how to conserve water with proper irrigation, installing rain barrels and cisterns, and more. Even when the solution is to do nothing—for instance, leaving some parts of a lawn un-mowed in order to save time and money while attracting local wildlife—Grow More with Less enables you to confidently make the call. With effective, time-proven recommendations like these, field-tested in a large botanical garden and adapted for home use by Vincent Simeone, Grow More with Lessis your complete step-by-step personal roadmap for green gardening.

    Baby Einstein AlphabooksBaby Einstein Alphabooks   
  • Disney Storybook Artists (Children's)
  • Synopsis
    We've made our best-selling Alphabooks set even better with a fresh new look. Learning the alphabet has never been more fun with these 26 mini board books. Real-life photos and illustrations of everyday objects help teach Baby about each letter, and every mini board book can be stored and carried in a colorfully decorated Alphabooks box.






    Giggle!Giggle!   
  • Caroline Jayne Church 
  • (Children's)

    Synopsis
    Cherish the laughter-filled moments of childhood with your little one in GIGGLE, a novelty sound book by Caroline Jayne Church!
    With a press of a button an infectious giggle lovingly echoes through this ticklish board book, proving that laughter is, indeed, the best sound in the world. Accompanied by Caroline Jayne Church's bestselling toddlers, GIGGLE is a book that will have children and parents laughing and loving out loud.
    There's no greater thing to do
    Than laugh and giggle here with you!


    Friendly DayFriendly Day   
  • Mij Kelly, 
  • Charles Fuge 
  • (Children's)

    Synopsis
    Children will laugh out loud at this amusing story of a clever mouse who tricks a hungry cat into sparing his life by telling the cat that it's Friendly Day…the one day in the year when all animals must share, care, and be nice to one another. Bright illustrations and sparkling rhyme follow suit as the cat imagines all the world's animals getting along--from a rhino who knits kitten mittens to a shark having a friendly game of chess with a school of fish.




    The Bear's SongThe Bear's Song   
  • Benjamin Chaud 
  • (Children's)

    Synopsis
    "Sweet" has new meaning in this richly illustrated, immersive picture book about two bears on a big-city adventure. Papa Bear is searching for Little Bear, who has escaped the den. Little Bear is following a bee, because where there are bees, there is honey! When the quest leads both bears into the bustling city and a humming opera house, theatrical hijinks ensue, culminating in a deliciously harmonious reunion. Children and parents alike will savor Benjamin Chaud's lush illustrations, and relish in the book's bonus seek-and-find elements.








    Winter is for SnowWinter is for Snow   
  • Robert Neubecker, 
  • Robert Neubecker (Illustrator) 
  • (Children's)

    Synopsis
    A boy works hard to persuade his younger sister that winter truly is the most wonderful time of the year in a story that suggests that Neubecker is also the type to enjoy bundling up and heading outdoors when the temperature drops. The siblings alternately narrate in color-coded verse, amplifying the story’s performative potential: “Winter is for excellent!/ Come out and play with me!” shouts the boy. “Winter is to stay inside./ Please just let me be!” is his sister’s response. Neubecker’s snow- laden illustrations are crammed with activity while also revealing a certain emotional thawing that culminates in the girl catching not a snowflake, but a tiny heart on her tongue.


    Is It Christmas Yet?Is It Christmas Yet?   
  • Jane Chapman, 
  • Jane Chapman (Illustrator)
  •  
  • (Children's)

    Synopsis
    A little bear named Teddy gets ready for Christmas with his father, Big Bear, in this decidedly cheerful British import. Teddy is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Christmas, asking his father endless questions in the manner of little ones everywhere. Father and son work together to wrap presents, bake a cake and search for a Christmas tree. The tree that Teddy chooses is too large to fit through the doors of their house, and when they bring it through the window, the top of the tree snaps off. Teddy dissolves into tears at the accident, but father and son work together to repair the damage and decorate the tree for Christmas Eve. A joyful concluding spread shows the bear pair on Christmas morning, sprawled under their tree, eating cake and candy and enjoying their unwrapped gifts. The text is aggressively jolly, with sound effects and key words and phrases set in display type and lots of exclamation marks. But Chapman's large-format illustrations are appealing, with plenty of humor and motion, and her bears are amusing--especially Teddy, who really does look like a teddy bear come to life. A story with a youngster getting ready for Christmas with just his dad should be a welcome choice for single fathers to share with their children.

    The Giant Makes the Team Hardcover Book, Grades K - 3The Giant Makes the Team   
  • Linda Koons
  •  
  • (Children's)

    Synopsis
    In this hardcover storybook, The Giant Makes the Team, the Giant struggles to find a sport that’s just the right fit, but with the help of Alex, Audrey, and even Oliver, he finally makes the team while learning to never give up. --Big problems seem small with a Giant on your side! Young readers are introduced to the lovable Giant and his friends as they share in funny, real-life adventures! As the curious Giant, along with his loyal friends, face life's challenges in various quirky situations, children will learn that through hard work, creative thinking, and a little help from a friend, they can conquer any fear and achieve their goals! Young children will enjoy learning and exploring along with the Giant as he tackles life's little problems in a BIG way!



    What We Saw at NightWhat We Saw at Night   
  • Jacquelyn Mitchard (Young Adult)
  • Synopsis
    Allie Kim suffers from Xeroderma Pigmentosum: a fatal allergy to sunlight that confines her and her two best friends, Rob and Juliet, to the night. When freewheeling Juliet takes up Parkour—the stunt-sport of scaling and leaping from tall buildings—Allie and Rob have no choice but to join her, if only to protect her. Though potentially deadly, Parkour after dark makes Allie feel truly alive, and for the first time equal to the “daytimers.”
     
    On a random summer night, the trio catches a glimpse of what appears to be murder—and the murderer sees them, too. A game of cat-and-mouse ensues that escalates through the underground world of experimental treatment, off-the-grid sports, and forbidden love. Allie, who can never see the light of day, discovers she alone can stop a human monster.

    The Fiery Heart: A Bloodlines NovelThe Fiery Heart: A Bloodlines Novel   
  • Richelle Mead 
  • (Young Adult)

    Synopsis
    Prepare to be Tested.
    The story that kicked off Richelle Mead’s international #1 bestselling Vampire Academy series is NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE.
    Read it Before it Hits Theaters February 14th, 2014!
    Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.
    In The Indigo Spell, Sydney was torn between the Alchemist way of life and what her heart and gut were telling her to do. And in one breathtaking moment that Richelle Mead fans will never forget, she made a decision that shocked even her. . . .
    But the struggle isn't over for Sydney. As she navigates the aftermath of her life-changing decision, she still finds herself pulled in too many directions at once. Her sister Zoe has arrived, and while Sydney longs to grow closer to her, there's still so much she must keep secret. Working with Marcus has changed the way she views the Alchemists, and Sydney must tread a careful path as she harnesses her profound magical ability to undermine the way of life she was raised to defend. Consumed by passion and vengeance, Sydney struggles to keep her secret life under wraps as the threat of exposure—and re-education—looms larger than ever.
    Pulses will race throughout this smoldering fourth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where no secret is safe.

    Takedown Twenty (Stephanie Plum Series #20)Takedown Twenty (Stephanie Plum Series #20)   
  • Janet Evanovich
  • Synopsis
    Powerhouse author Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels are “laugh-out-loud funny” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), “brilliantly evocative” (The Denver Post), and “making trouble and winning hearts” (USA Today).
    Stephanie Plum has her sights set on catching a notorious mob boss. If she doesn’t take him down, he may take her out.
    New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum knows better than to mess with family. But when powerful mobster Salvatore “Uncle Sunny” Sunucchi goes on the lam in Trenton, it’s up to Stephanie to find him. Uncle Sunny is charged with murder for running over a guy (twice), and nobody wants to turn him in—not his poker buddies, not his bimbo girlfriend, not his two right-hand men, Shorty and Moe. Even Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, has skin in the game, because—just Stephanie’s luck—the godfather is his actual godfather. And while Morelli understands that the law is the law, his old-world grandmother, Bella, is doing everything she can to throw Stephanie off the trail.
    It’s not just Uncle Sunny giving Stephanie the run-around. Security specialist Ranger needs her help to solve the bizarre death of a top client’s mother, a woman who happened to play bingo with Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur. Before Stephanie knows it, she’s working side by side with Ranger and Grandma at the senior center, trying to catch a killer on the loose—and the bingo balls are not rolling in their favor. 
    With bullet holes in her car, henchmen on her tail, and a giraffe named Kevin running wild in the streets of Trenton, Stephanie will have to up her game for the ultimate takedown.

    The All-Girl Filling Station's Last ReunionThe All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion   
  • Fannie Flagg
  • Synopsis
    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 and what they are capable of.
    Mrs. Sookie Poole of Point Clear, Alabama, has just married off the last of her three daughters and is looking forward to relaxing and perhaps traveling with her husband, Earle. The only thing left to contend with now is her mother, the formidable and imposing Lenore Simmons Krackenberry—never an easy task. 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 shocking 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.
    Feeling like a stranger in her own life, and fearful of confronting her mother with questions, 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. With so many men off to war, it’s up to Fritzi and her enterprising younger sisters to keep it going. Soon truck drivers are changing their routes to fill up at the All-Girl Filling Station. But before long, Fritzi sees an opportunity for an even more groundbreaking adventure when she receives a life-changing invitation from the U.S. military to assist in the war effort. As Sookie learns more and more about Fritzi’s story, she finds herself with new answers to the questions she’s been asking her whole life.
    The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion is a perfect combination of comedy, mystery, wisdom, and charm. Fabulous, fun-loving, spanning decades, generations, and centered on a little-known aspect of America’s twentieth-century story,The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion is Fannie Flagg, the bestselling “born storyteller” (The New York Times Book Review), at her irresistible best.

    Dark Witch (Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy Series #1)Dark Witch (Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy Series #1)   
  • Nora Roberts
  • Synopsis
    First in the all-new Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy
    From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts comes a trilogy about the land we’re drawn to, the family we learn to cherish, and the people we long to love…
    With indifferent parents, Iona Sheehan grew up craving devotion and acceptance. From her maternal grandmother, she learned where to find both: a land of lush forests, dazzling lakes, and centuries-old legends.
    Ireland.
    County Mayo, to be exact. Where her ancestors’ blood and magic have flowed through generations—and where her destiny awaits.
    Iona arrives in Ireland with nothing but her Nan’s directions, an unfailingly optimistic attitude, and an innate talent with horses. Not far from the luxurious castle where she is spending a week, she finds her cousins, Branna and Connor O’Dwyer. And since family is family, they invite her into their home and their lives.
    When Iona lands a job at the local stables, she meets the owner, Boyle McGrath. Cowboy, pirate, wild tribal horsemen, he’s three of her biggest fantasy weaknesses all in one big, bold package.
    Iona realizes that here she can make a home for herself—and live her life as she wants, even if that means falling head over heels for Boyle. But nothing is as it seems. An ancient evil has wound its way around Iona’s family tree and must be defeated. Family and friends will fight with each other and for each other to keep the promise of hope—and love—alive…

    The Tulip EatersThe Tulip Eaters   
  • Antoinette van Heugten
  • Synopsis
    In a riveting exploration of the power the past wields over the present, critically acclaimed author Antoinette van Heugten writes the story of a woman whose child's life hangs in the balance, forcing her to confront the roots of her family's troubled history in the dark days of World War II…
    It's the stuff of nightmares: Nora de Jong returns home from work one ordinary day to find her mother has been murdered. Her infant daughter is missing. And the only clue is the body of an unknown man on the living-room floor, clutching a Luger in his cold, dead hand.
    Frantic to find Rose, Nora puts aside her grief and frustration to start her own search. But the contents of a locked metal box she finds in her parents' attic leave her with as many questions as answers—and suggest the killer was not a stranger. Saving her daughter means delving deeper into her family's darkest history, leading Nora half a world away to Amsterdam, where her own unsettled past and memories of painful heartbreak rush back to haunt her.
    As Nora feverishly pieces together the truth from an old family diary, she's drawn back to a city under Nazi occupation, where her mother's alliances may have long ago sealed her own–and Rose's—fate.

    Guests on EarthGuests on Earth   
  • Lee Smith
  • Synopsis
    It’s 1936 when orphaned thirteen-year-old Evalina Toussaint is admitted to Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, a mental institution known for its innovative treatments for nervous disorders and addictions. Taken under the wing of the hospital’s most notable patient, Zelda Fitzgerald, Evalina witnesses the cascading events leading up to the tragic fire of 1948 that killed nine women in a locked ward, Zelda among them.
    Author Lee Smith has created, through her artful blending of fiction and fact, a mesmerizing novel about a world apart—a time and a place where creativity and passion, theory and medicine, tragedy and transformation, are luminously intertwined.






    White Fire (Special Agent Pendergast Series #13)White Fire (Special Agent Pendergast Series #13)   
  • Douglas Preston, 
  • Lincoln Child
  • Synopsis
    Past and present collide in Preston and Child's most thrilling novel ever . . .
    WHITE FIRE
    Special Agent Pendergast arrives at an exclusive Colorado ski resort to rescue his protégée, Corrie Swanson, from serious trouble with the law. His sudden appearance coincides with the first attack of a murderous arsonist who--with brutal precision--begins burning down multimillion-dollar mansions with the families locked inside. After springing Corrie from jail, Pendergast learns she made a discovery while examining the bones of several miners who were killed 150 years earlier by a rogue grizzly bear. Her finding is so astonishing that it, even more than the arsonist, threatens the resort's very existence.
    Drawn deeper into the investigation, Pendergast uncovers a mysterious connection between the dead miners and a fabled, long-lost Sherlock Holmes story--one that might just offer the key to the modern day killings as well.
    Now, with the ski resort snowed in and under savage attack--and Corrie's life suddenly in grave danger--Pendergast must solve the enigma of the past before the town of the present goes up in flames.

    King and Maxwell (Sean King and Michelle Maxwell Series #6)King and Maxwell (Sean King and Michelle Maxwell Series #6)   
  • David Baldacci
  • Synopsis
    David Baldacci brings back Sean King and Michelle Maxwell--former Secret Service agents turned private investigators--in their most surprising, personal, and dangerous case ever . . .
    KING AND MAXWELL
    It seems at first like a simple, tragic story. Tyler Wingo, a teenage boy, learns the awful news that his father, a soldier, was killed in action in Afghanistan. Then the extraordinary happens: Tyler receives a communication from his father . . . after his supposed death.
    Tyler hires Sean and Michelle to solve the mystery surrounding his father. But their investigation quickly leads to deeper, more troubling questions. Could Tyler's father really still be alive? What was his true mission? Could Tyler be the next target?
    Sean and Michelle soon realize that they've stumbled on to something bigger and more treacherous than anyone could have imagined. And as their hunt for the truth leads them relentlessly to the highest levels of power and to uncovering the most clandestine of secrets, Sean and Michelle are determined to help and protect Tyler--though they may pay for it with their lives.

    The Valley of AmazementThe Valley of Amazement   
  • Amy Tan
  • Synopsis
    New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan brings us her latest novel: a sweeping, evocative epic of two women's intertwined fates and their search for identity—from the lavish parlors of Shanghai courtesans to the fog- shrouded mountains of a remote Chinese village
    Shanghai, 1912. Violet Minturn is the privileged daughter of the American madam of the city's most exclusive courtesan house. But when the Ching dynasty is overturned, Violet is separated from her mother in a cruel act of chicanery and forced to become a "virgin courtesan." Half-Chinese and half-American, Violet grapples with her place in the worlds of East and West—until she is able to merge her two halves, empowering her to become a shrewd courtesan who excels in the business of seduction and illusion, though she still struggles to understand who she is.
    Back in 1897 San Francisco, Violet's mother, Lucia, chooses a disastrous course as a sixteen-year-old, when her infatuation with a Chinese painter compels her to leave her home for Shanghai. Shocked by her lover's adherence to Chinese traditions, she is unable to change him, despite her unending American ingenuity.
    Fueled by betrayals, both women refuse to submit to fate and societal expectations, persisting in their quests to recover what was taken from them: respect; a secure future; and, most poignantly, love from their parents, lovers, and children. To reclaim their lives, they take separate journeys—to a backwater hamlet in China, the wealthy environs of the Hudson River Valley, and, ultimately, the unknown areas of their hearts, where they discover what remains after their many failings to love and be loved.
    Spanning more than forty years and two continents, The Valley of Amazement transports readers from the collapse of China's last imperial dynasty to the beginning of the Republic and recaptures the lost world of old Shanghai through the inner workings of courtesan houses and the lives of the foreigners living in the International Settlement, both erased by World War II. A deeply evocative narrative of the profound connections between mothers and daughters, imbued with Tan's characteristic insight and humor, The Valley of Amazement conjures a story of inherited trauma, desire and deception, and the power and obstinacy of love.

    The Supreme Macaroni Company (Valentine Trilogy #3)The Supreme Macaroni Company (Valentine Trilogy #3)   
  • Adriana Trigiani
  • Synopsis
    For over a hundred years, the Angelini Shoe Company in Greenwich Village has relied on the leather produced by Vechiarelli & Son in Tuscany. This historic business partnership provides the twist of fate for Valentine Roncalli, the school-teacher turned shoemaker, to fall in love with Gianluca Vechiarelli, a tanner with a complex past . . . and a secret.
    A piece of surprising news is revealed on a fateful Christmas Eve when Valentine and Gianluca join her extended family. Now faced with life altering choices, Valentine remembers the wise words that inspired her in the early days of her beloved Angelini Shoe Company: "A person who can build a pair of shoes can do just about anything." The proud, passionate Valentine is going to fight for everything she wants and savor all she deserves—the bitter and the sweetness of life itself.

    We Are WaterWe Are Water   
  • Wally Lamb
  • Synopsis
    In middle age, Annie Oh—wife, mother, and outsider artist—has shaken her family to its core. After twenty-seven years of marriage and three children, Annie has fallen in love with Viveca, the wealthy, cultured, confident Manhattan art dealer who orchestrated her professional success.
    Annie and Viveca plan to wed in the Oh family's hometown of Three Rivers, Connecticut, where gay marriage has recently been legalized. But the impending wedding provokes some very mixed reactions and opens a Pandora's box of toxic secrets—dark and painful truths that have festered below the surface of the Ohs' lives.
    We Are Water is an intricate and layered portrait of marriage, family, and the inexorable need for understanding and connection, told in the alternating voices of the Ohs—nonconformist Annie; her ex-husband, Orion, a psychologist; Ariane, the do-gooder daughter, and her twin, Andrew, the rebellious only son; and free-spirited Marissa, the youngest Oh. Set in New England and New York during the first years of the Obama presidency, it is also a portrait of modern America, exploring issues of class, changing social mores, the legacy of racial violence, and the nature of creativity and art.
    With humor and breathtaking compassion, Wally Lamb brilliantly captures the essence of human experience in vivid and unforgettable characters struggling to find hope and redemption in the aftermath of trauma and loss. We Are Water is vintage Wally Lamb—a compulsively readable, generous, and uplifting masterpiece that digs deep into the complexities of the human heart to explore the ways in which we search for love and meaning in our lives.

    Cross My Heart (Alex Cross Series #21)Cross My Heart (Alex Cross Series #21)   
  • James Patterson
  • Synopsis
    James Patterson raises the stakes to their highest level, ever-when Alex Cross becomes the obsession of a genius of menace set on proving that he is the greatest mind in the history of crime.
    Detective Alex Cross is a family man at heart--nothing matters more to him than his children, his grandmother, and his wife Bree. His love of his family is his anchor, and gives him the strength to confront evil in his work. One man knows this deeply, and uses Alex's strength as a weapon against him in the most unsettling and unexpected novel of James Patterson's career.
    When the ones Cross loves are in danger, he will do anything to protect them. If he does anything to protect them, they will die.
    CROSS MY HEART is the most powerful Alex Cross novel ever, propelled by the ever-ingenious mind of James Patterson, the world's #1 bestselling writer.

    Mirage (Oregon Files Series #9)Mirage (Oregon Files Series #9)   
  • Clive Cussler, 
  • Jack Du Brul
  • Synopsis
    The extraordinary new novel in the #1 New York Times–bestselling series from the grand master of adventure.
    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.



    Dust (Kay Scarpetta Series #21)Dust (Kay Scarpetta Series #21)   
  • Patricia Cornwell
  • Synopsis
    From the world’s number-one bestselling crime writer comes the extraordinary new Kay Scarpetta novel.
    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.
    With unparalleled high-tension suspense and the latest in forensic technology, Patricia Cornwell once again proves her exceptional ability to surprise—and to thrill.

    The First Phone Call from HeavenThe First Phone Call from Heaven   
  • Mitch Albom
  • Synopsis
    "What if the end is not the end?"
    From the beloved author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven comes his most thrilling and magical novel yet—a page-turning mystery and a meditation on the power of human connection.
    One morning in the small town of Coldwater, Michigan, the phones start ringing. The voices say they are calling from heaven. Is it the greatest miracle ever? Or some cruel hoax? As news of these strange calls spreads, outsiders flock to Coldwater to be a part of it.
    At the same time, a disgraced pilot named Sully Harding returns to Coldwater from prison to discover his hometown gripped by "miracle fever." Even his young son carries a toy phone, hoping to hear from his mother in heaven.
    As the calls increase, and proof of an afterlife begins to surface, the town—and the world—transforms. Only Sully, convinced there is nothing beyond this sad life, digs into the phenomenon, determined to disprove it for his child and his own broken heart.
    Moving seamlessly between the invention of the telephone in 1876 and a world obsessed with the next level of communication, Mitch Albom takes readers on a breathtaking ride of frenzied hope.
    The First Phone Call from Heaven is Mitch Albom at his best—a virtuosic story of love, history, and belief.

    FriendsFriends   
  • Eric Carle, 
  • Eric Carle (Illustrator)
  •  
  • (Children's)

    Synopsis
    From the creator of the all-time classic VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR comes a sweetly resonant story about the power of friendship.
    When a best friend moves away, it can be painful for the child who is left behind. But the spunky boy in this upbeat story makes up his mind to find his missing playmate. Young readers will cheer on the boy as he braves currents, climbs mountains, and dashes through rain before, finally, reuniting with his friend. A story alive with love and perseverance, brightened with vibrant art and Eric Carle's trademark fostering of imagination.
    This deeply personal story for Eric is dedicated to his longtime wife, Bobbie, and it is their bond that inspired the book. For anyone who has ever scaled mountains to be with the one he loves, or for anyone who has simply known the love and joy of a great friendship, this book will strike a resonant chord.

    Stella BainStella Bain   
  • Anita Shreve
  • Synopsis
    An epic story, set against the backdrop of World War I, from bestselling author Anita Shreve.
    When an American woman, Stella Bain, is found suffering from severe shell shock in an exclusive garden in London, surgeon August Bridge and his wife selflessly agree to take her in.
    A gesture of goodwill turns into something more as Bridge quickly develops a clinical interest in his houseguest. Stella had been working as a nurse's aide near the front, but she can't remember anything prior to four months earlier when she was found wounded on a French battlefield.
    In a narrative that takes us from London to America and back again, Shreve has created an engrossing and wrenching tale about love and the meaning of memory, set against the haunting backdrop of a war that destroyed an entire generation.


    True ColorsTrue Colors   
  • Jayne Ann Krentz
  • Synopsis
    For two months, Jamie Garland had fallen in love... with a lie. Cade Santerre was every woman's fantasy - until the mask came off in a scandal that left Jamie shattered. Cade had pretended to be someone he wasn't. Worse, he'd used her in his elaborate attempt to catch a man he believed was a crook and a swindler.
    Though Cade's suspect had escaped, Cade was still around - raw, masculine, overwhelming. He had some unfinished business with the man who had conned his innocent sister, and he needed Jamie's help. But Jamie had some unfinished business, as well: to find out if the man she'd fallen in love with really existed.






    Six Old CrowsSix Old Crows   
  • J. P. Martin
  • Synopsis
    Lasting friendships are sometimes formed in unusual ways. The following story shows how this can happen. Buses and trains take us places, but they sometimes bring us together. And, once we are together....Well, you'll see.
    Ordinary people do brave things during the most trying times. And acts of kindness, even during the most distressing of situations are well remembered.









    Killing Jesus: A HistoryKilling Jesus: A History   
  • Bill O'Reilly, 
  • Martin Dugard
  • Synopsis
    Millions of readers have thrilled to bestselling authors Bill O’Reilly and historian Martin Dugard’s Killing Kennedy andKilling Lincoln, page-turning works of nonfiction that have changed the way we read history.
    Now the anchor of The O’Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly two thousand years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God.Killing Jesus will take readers inside Jesus’s life, recounting the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable - and changed the world forever.