Thursday, May 31, 2012

NY Times Bestselling Nonfiction

The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestine Service by Henry A. Crumpton: Number 3 on the bestseller list
For a crucial period, Henry Crumpton led the CIA's global covert operations against America's terrorist enemies, including al Qaeda. In the days after 9/11, the CIA tasked Crumpton to organize and lead the Afghanistan campaign. With Crumpton's strategic initiative and bold leadership, from the battlefield to the Oval Office, U.S. and Afghan allies routed al Qaeda and the Taliban in less than ninety days after the Twin Towers fell. At the height of combat against the Taliban in late 2001, there were fewer than five hundred Americans on the ground in Afghanistan, a dynamic blend of CIA and Special Forces. The campaign changed the way America wages war.


My Cross to Bear by Gregg Allman with Allan Light: Number 4 on the bestseller list
As one of the greatest rock icons of all time, Gregg Allman has lived it all and then some. For almost fifty years, he's been creating some of the most recognizable songs in American rock, but never before has he paused to reflect on the long road he's traveled. Now, he tells the unflinching story of his life, laying bare the unvarnished truth about his wild ride that has spanned across the years. 


Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard: Number 6 on the bestseller list
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.

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen: Number 7 on the bestseller list
In this irresistible memoir, the New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize Anna Quindlen writes about looking back and ahead—and celebrating it all—as she considers marriage, girlfriends, our mothers, faith, loss, all the stuff in our closets, and more. From childhood memories to manic motherhood to middle age, Quindlen uses the events of her own life to illuminate our own. Along with the downsides of age, she says, can come wisdom, a perspective on life that makes it satisfying and even joyful. Candid, funny, moving, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake is filled with the sharp insights and revealing observations that have long confirmed Quindlen’s status as America’s laureate of real life.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Teen Pick of the Week: Chomp

Chomp by Carl Hiaasen
Wahoo Cray's life is a zoo--literally. His father, Mickey is a professional animal wrangler, so Wahoo's backyard is crawling with gators, snakes, raccoons, monkeys, and turtles. The critters, he can handle. His dad is the unpredictable one. When Mickey Cray takes a job with a reality-TV show called Expedition Survival!, Wahoo knows he'll be doing some wrangling himself--to keep his father from strangling Derek Badger the show's outrageously inept and egotistical star. The job gets off to a harrowing start when Derek stages a near-disastrous scene with Alice, the Cray's gigantic gator.

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great teen book recently? Want to recommend it as Teen Pick of the Week? Email me!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

North Carolina, Boston, New York

The Cove by Ron Rash
Deep in the rugged Appalachians of North Carolina lies the cove, a dark, forbidding place where spirits and fetches wander, and even the light fears to travel. Or so the townsfolk of Mars Hill believe--just as they know that Laurel Shelton, the lonely young woman who lives within its shadows, is a witch. Alone except for her brother, Hank, newly returned from the trenches of France, she aches for her life to begin. Then it happens--a stranger appears, carrying nothing but a beautiful silver flute and a note explaining that his name is Walter, he is mute, and is bound for New York. Laurel finds him in the woods, nearly stung to death by yellow jackets, and nurses him back to health. As the days pass, Walter slips easily into life in the cove and into Laurel's heart, bringing her the only real happiness she has ever known. But Walter harbors a secret that could destroy everything--and danger is closer than they know.

The Rising of Roxbury Crossing by James Redfearn
Swept up in the tumult of post-war 1919 and amid the rising tide of immigrants, virulent socialists, labor union strikers and discontented WWI veterans, Boston's primarily Irish police force does the dirty work to keep the city from becoming unglued with long hours, paltry pay and little recognition. In Ireland, the Republican Brotherhood wages a guerrilla war of independence with England, supported by Boston's Irish neighborhoods. Frustrated by political promises, Boston's guardians go on strike for better pay and working conditions. And as the city erupts, Willie Dwyer's nemesis crosses an ocean and comes to hunt him down.


The Sins of the Father by Jeffrey Archer
Only days before Britain declares war on Germany, Harry Clifton, hoping to escape the consequences of long-buried family secrets, and forced to accept that his desire to marry Emma Barrington will never be fulfilled, has joined the Merchant Navy. But his ship is sunk in the Atlantic by a German U-boat, drowning almost the entire crew. An American cruise liner, the SS Kansas Star, rescues a handful of sailors, among them Harry and the third officer, an American named Tom Bradshaw. When Bradshaw dies in the night, Harry seizes on the chance to escape his tangled past and assumes his identity. But on landing in America, he quickly learns the mistake he has made, when he discovers what is awaiting Bradshaw in New York. Without any way of proving his true identity, Harry Clifton is now chained to a past that could be far worse than the one he hoped to escape.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Teen Pick of the Week: Partials

Partials by Dan Wells
The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials--engineered organic beings identical to humans--has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out. Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them.

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great teen book recently? Want to recommend it as Teen Pick of the Week? Email me!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Fathers, Elephants, Music & Medicine

Father's Day: A Journey into the Mind and Heart of My Extraordinary Son by Buzz Bissinger
Buzz Bissinger's twins were born three minutes--and a world--apart. Gerry, the older one, is a graduate student at Penn, preparing to become a teacher. His brother Zach has spent his life attending special schools. He'll never drive a car, or kiss a girl, or live by himself. He is a savant, challenged by serious intellectual deficits but also blessed with rare talents; an astonishing memory, a dazzling knack for navigation, and a reflexive honesty that can make him both socially awkward and surprisingly wise. Buzz realized that while he had always been an attentive father; he didn't really know what it was like to be Zach. So one summer night Buzz and Zach hit the road to revisit all the places they have lived together during Zach's twenty-four years.

Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story by Dame Daphne Sheldrick
Daphne Sheldrick, whose family arrived in Africa from Scotland in the 1820s, is the first person ever to have successfully hand-reared newborn elephants. In this heartwarming memoir, Daphne shares her amazing relationships with a host of orphans, including her first love, Bushy, a liquid-eyed antelope; Ricky-Ticky-Tavey, a little dwarf mongoose; Gregory Peck, a busy buffalo weaver bird; Huppety, a mischievous zebra, and the majestic elephant Eleanor, with whom Daphne has shared more than forty years of great friendship. But this is also a magical and heartbreaking human love story between Daphne and David Sheldrick, the famous Tsavo National Park warden.

Scales to Scalpels: Doctors Who Practice the Healing Arts of Music and Medicine by Lisa Wong
The Longwood Symphony Orchestra is not just any orchestra. Founded in 1982 by a group of talented Boston-area physicans, medical students, and health-care professionals, the orchestra has grown into a proud, extraordinary group of musicians with fans around the globe, from El Sistema in Venezuela to other medical-musician groups inspired by L.S.O's work. In this book, Dr. Wong shows how the musical acumen of these physicans affects the way they administer healing and, in turn, how their medical work affects their music.

Teen Pick of the Week: Another Jekyll, Another Hyde

Another Jekyll, Another Hyde by Daniel and Dina Nayeri
When Thomas's Billionaire father marries French governess Nicola Vileroy, high society is all abuzz--but Thomas, the most popular student at Marlowe, is just plain high. Ever since his girlfriend Belle dumped him, he's been spending less time with other friends and more time getting wasted at club. But after someone slips him a designer drug one night--and his stepmother seems to know way too much about his private life--things really start to get crazy. As Thomas's blackouts give way to a sinister voice inside his head, and as news of a vicious hate crime has students on edge, Thomas comes to the sickening realization that Madame Vileroy is far more sinister and powerful than your average wicked stepmother, and has made him the victim of a horrifying supernatural plan.

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great teen book recently? Want to recommend it as Teen Pick of the Week? Email me!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Murder, Siblings, and Romance

Sidney Sheldon's Angel of the Dark by TIlly Bagshawe
It was his first big murder case -- and one of the bloodiest and most violent crimes LAPD detective Danny McGuire would ever encounter. Andrew Jakes, an elderly multimillionaire art dealer, had been brutally murdered in his Hollywood home, his lifeless body tied to his naked young wife. Raped and beaten, the lovely Angela Jakes had barely survived the attack herself. Gazing into her deep, soulful eyes, Danny swore that he'd find the psychopath behind this barbarous act. But the investigation didn't turn up a single solid lead, and within days of Angela's release from the hospital, the stunning young widow-- Danny's only witness -- had vanished.

Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung
The night before Janie's sister, Hannah is born, her grandmother tells her a story: Since the Japanese occupation of Korea, their family has lost a daughter in every generation, and Janie is told to keep Hannah safe. Years later, when Hannah inexplicably cuts all times and disappears, Janie goes to find her. What she discovers will force her to confront her family's painful silence, the truth behind her parents' sudden move to America twenty years earlier, and her own conflicted feelings toward Hannah.

Overseas by Beatriz Williams
When twenty-something Wall Street analyst Kate Wilson attracts the notice of the legendary Julian Laurence at a business meeting, no one's more surprised than she is. Julian's relentless energy and his extraordinary intellect electrify her, but she's baffled by his sudden interest. Why would this handsome British billionaire--Manhattan's most eligible bachelor--pursue a pretty but boyishly young banker who hasn't had a boyfriend since college? The answer is beyond imagining...at least at first. Kate and Julian's story may have begun not in the moneyed world of the twenty-first-century Manhattan but in France during World War I, when a mysterious American woman emerged from the shadows of the Western Front to save the life of Captain Julian Laurence Ashford, a celebrated war poet and infantry officer. Now, in modern-day New York, Kate and Julian most protect themselves from the secrets of the past, and trust in a true love that transcends time and space.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Teen Pick of the Week: L8r, g8r

L8r, g8r by Lauren Myracle
through their instant messages, three friends have shared the ups and downs of high school: a flirtatious teacher, a witchy classmate, a pot-smoking smoocher, a Care Bear-toting stalker, and much, much more. Now it's their senior year, and Angela, Zoe, and Maddie--otherwise known as the winsome threesome--are feeling invincible. Too bad Jana, the Queen Bee who made their sophomore year a nightmare, is on the warpath again. This time she has it out for good girl Zoe, and it's up to Maddie and Angela to defend their friend. Not that Zoe, who's deep in love with Doug, seems to notice. A series of vengeful pranks escalates, culminating in a senior prom that no one will forget, even if they want to!

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great teen book recently? Want to recommend it as Teen Pick of the Week? Email me!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

New audiobooks!

Unnatural Acts by Stuart Woods
When a hedge fund billionaire hires Stone Barrington to talk some sense into his wayward son, it seems like an easy enough job; no one knows the hidden sins and temptations of the ultra-wealthy better than Stone. but as Stone and his erstwhile protege, Herbie Fisher, probe deeper into the case--and an old one comes back to haunt him--he realizes that even he may have underestimated just how far some people will go to cover up their crimes... and plan new ones.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
It's the early 1980s--the country is in a deep recession, and life after college is harder than ever. In the cafes on College Hill, the wised-up kids are inhaling Derrida and listening to Talking Heads. But Madeleine Hanna, dutiful English major, is writing her senior thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot, purveyors of the marriage plot that lies at the heart of the greatest English novels. Leonard Bankhead--charismatic loner, college Darwinist, and lost Portland boy--suddenly turns up in a semiotics seminar, and soon Madeleine finds herself in a highly charged erotic and intellectual relationship with him. At the same time, her old "friend" Mitchell Grammaticus--who's been reading Christian mysticism and generally acting strange--resurfaces, obsessed with the idea that Madeleine is destined to be his mate.

The Big Cat Nap by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown
To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the beloved Mrs. Murphy mystery series, Rita Mae Brown and her intrepid feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown return with a charming claw-biting tale starring Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen. Of course prowling faithfully at Harry's side are the sleuthing cats Mrs. Murphy, ever wise, and Pewter, reliably cranky and always primed with a razor-sharp quip. Fiercely loyal and on the alert, corgi Tee Tucker is also never far behind. This time, Harry and her menagerie throw a wrench into the gears of a killer of grease monkeys.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Alex Rider: Scorpia Rising

Alex Rider: Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz
In his time as a British spy, Alex Rider has taken on countless enemies. While he's never come away unscathed, he's always completed his missions. But there is one enemy that just won't stay down, the terrorist organization that murdered his parents and forever changed Alex's life: Scorpia. Back and more powerful than ever, Scorpia has its sights set on the turbulent Middle East, and Alex must risk his life in one of the most volatile regions in the world. His mission? Put Scorpia out of business. Permanently.

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great teen book recently? Want to recommend it as Teen Pick of the Week? Email me!