Tales of Redemption, Knitting, and World War II

Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: Tales of Redemption from an Irish Mailbox by Greg Fitzsimmons
Greg Fitzsimmons has made a lot of what appear to be bad decision. It's what he was raised to do. Most parents would hide or destroy any evidence so clearly demonstrating their child's failures, but - lucky for us - Greg Fitzsimmon's family has preserved each mistake in its original envelope like a trophy in a case, lest he ever forget where he came from.

Stitch 'N Bitch Superstar Knitting: Go Beyond the Basics by Debbie Stoller
Take your knitting to the next level! Learn intarsia knitting in a single setting. Work Fair Isle with a smile. Knit lace with grace, and don't freak when it's time to steek. Plus cable, double knitting, beading, embroidery, how to work short rows, and useful cast-ons, bind-offs, increases and decreases.



Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

Petty Magic

Petty Magic: Being the Memoirs and Confessions of Miss Evelyn Harbinger, Temptress and Troublemaker by Camille DeAngelis
Evelyn Harbinger sees nothing wrong with a one-night stand. At 146 years old, Eve may look like she bakes oatmeal cookies in the afternoon and dozes in her rocking chair in the evening, but once the gray hair and wrinkles are traded for jet-black tresses and porcelain skin, she can still turn heads as the beautiful girl she once was. Can't fault a girl for having a little fun, can you?

Pretty Little Things by Jilliane Hoffman
Thirteen-year old Lainey Emerson is the middle child in a home police are already familiar with: her mom works too much and her stepfather favors his own blood over another man's problems--namely Lainey and her wild older sister. When Lainey fails to come home from a night out with friends, his disappearance is dismissed by the Coral Springs PD as just another disillusioned South Florida teen running away from suburban drama and an unhappy home life. But FDLE Special Agent Bobby Dees, who heads up the department's difficult Crimes Against Children Squad (CAC), is not quite so sure.

Trio of Sorcery by Mercedes Lackey
In Lackey's worlds, elves and vampires walk among humans, ancient gods wield powers they never abandoned, and mankind's own technologies create new opportunities for magic-workers and spirit-creatures to exploit. This book contains three all-new, never-before-published, short urban fantasy novels featuring three resourceful heroines and three different takes on the modern world and on magics both ancient and cutting-edge.

Inspiration, Hope, and Lessons

A Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness -- And a Trove of Letters -- Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression by Ted Gup
Shortly before Christmas 1933 in Depression-scarred Canton, Ohio, a small newspaper ad offered cash gifts to seventy-five families in distress. Readers were asked to send letters describing their hardships to a benefactor calling himself Mr. B. Virdot. The author's grandfather Sam Stone was inspired to place this ad and help his fellow Cantonians as they prepared for the cruelest Christmas most of them would ever endure. Moved by the stories of suffering and hope in the letters, which he discovered in a suitcase seventy-five years later, Ted Gup set out to unveil the lives behind them, searching for records and relatives all over the country to flesh out the family sagas hinted at in those letters.

Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language by Deborah Fallows
Deborah Fallows has spent much of her life learning languages and travelling around the world. But nothing prepared her for the surprises involved in learning Mandarin, China's most common language, or the intensity of living in Shanghai and Beijing. Over time, she realized that her struggles and triumphs in studying the language of her adopted home provided small clues to deciphering the behavior and habits of its people and the conundrums of its culture.

Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life by Nick Vujicic
Born without arms or legs, Nick Vujicic overcame his disability to live an independent, rich, fulfilling life, becoming a model for anyone seeking true happiness. Now an internationally successful motivational speaker, Nick spreads his central message: the most important goal for anyone is to find their life's purpose despite whatever difficulties or seemingly impossible odds stand in their way.

History - Rivalries and Voyages

My Thoughts Be Bloody: The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth that Led to an American Tragedy by Nora Titone
The scene of John Wilkes Booth shooting Abraham Lincoln in Ford's Theatre is among the most vivid and indelible images in American history. The literal story of what happened on April 14, 1865, is familiar: Lincoln was killed by John Wilkes Booth, a lunatic enraged by the Union victory and the prospect of black citizenship. Yet who Booth really was -- besides a killer-- is less well known. The magnitude of his crime has obscured for generations a startling personal story that was integral to his motivation. This sweeping family saga revives an extraordinary figure whose name has been missing, until now, from the story of President Lincoln's death. Edwin Booth, John Wilkes's older brother by four years, was in his day the biggest star of the American stage.

The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin with introduction by David Quammen
When Charles Darwin revealed his radical theories of biology in 1859, he sparked fierce controversy that continues to this day. Here is the journal that started it all -- Darwin's gripping first-person account of his landmark voyage to South America, with his original interpretations of the Galapagos ecosystem and the impact of nature and selection. Best-selling nature writer and biography David Quammen introduces the story of the HMS Beagle, which set sail in 1831 to chart the waters off South America. Darwin, age 22, enlisted as ship's naturalist on a journey that became the defining event of his life.

Darwin

Darwin in Galapagos: Footstep to a New World by K. Thalia Grant and Gregory B. Estes
In 1835, during his voyage on HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin spent several weeks in Galapagos exploring the islands and making extensive notes on their natural history. This is the first book to recreate Darwin's historic visit to the islands, following in his footsteps day by day and island by island as he records all that he observes around him.

Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design by Stephen C. Meyer
One hundred fifty years ago, Charles Darwin revolutionized biology, but did he refute intelligent design (ID)? In this book, Meyer argues that he did not. Much confusion surrounds the theory of intelligent design. Frequently misinterpreted by the media, politicians, and local school boards, intelligent design can be defended on purely scientific grounds in accordance with the same rigorous methods that apply to every proposed origin-of-life theory.

Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon by Mercedes Lackey
Kidnapping Persephone should have been an easy task. But in the Five Hundred Kingdoms, nothing's ever simple -- and the wrong blonde goddess is stolen by mistake, leaving Prince Leopold without his new bride. At least until he braves the realm of the dead to get her back.

Valeria's Cross by Kathi Macias & Susan Wales
After her first love is martyred, Valeria, the daughter of Roman Emperor Diocletian is forced to marry his murderer. Can her marriage survive if it's built on religious opposition? Will she?

The Countess by Rebecca Johns
In 1611, Countess Ersebet Bathory, a powerful Hungarian noblewoman, stood helpless as masons walled her inside her castle tower, dooming her to spend her final years in solitary confinement. Her crime: the gruesome murders of dozens of female servants , mostly young girls tortured to death for displeasing their ruthless mistress. Her opponents painted her as a blood-thirsty skrata--a witch--a portrayal that would expand to grotesque proportions through the centuries.

The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai by Ruiyan Xu
Li Jing, a successful happily married businessman, is dining at a grand hotel in Shanghai when a gas explosion shatters the building. A shard of glass neatly pierces Li Jing's forehead, obliterating his ability to speak Chinese. The only words that emerge from his mouth are faltering phrases of the English he spoke as a child growing up in Virginia.

Science, Math and Cupcakes

Stars Above, Earth Below: A Guide to Astronomy in the National Parks by Tyler Nordgren
Nordgren examines a range of astronomical topics and makes the connection between them and the landscapes, processes, and cultures which can be seen and experienced within specific U.S. national parks. For each park and topic the story unfolds in three steps and the author takes us from the coast of Maine to the Yellowstone volcano, from the depths of the Grand Canyon to the heights of the Rocky Mountains, exploring the natural links between the features of the parks and those of our Universe.

Atlantis and 2012: The Science of the Lost Civilization and the Prophecies of the Maya by Frank Joseph
Based on more than 25 years of research around the globe and statements from Edgar Cayce about Atlantis and its Pacific sister civilization of Lemuria, Frank Joseph reveals that the Mayan calendar was brought to Mexico by survivors of Atlantis. Uncovering the Atlantean influences in both ancient Mesoamerican culture and ancient Egyptian culture, he links the demise of Atlantis with the birth of the Olmec civilization in Mexico (the progenitors of the Maya), the beginning of the first Egyptian dynasty, and the start of the Mayan calendar.

Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical Treasures by Ian Stewart
Professor Stewart presents a new and magical mix of games, puzzles, paradoxes, brainteasers, and riddles. He mingles these with forays into ancient and modern mathematical thought, appallingly hilarious mathematical jokes, and inquiries into the great mathematical challenges of the present and past.

The Art of Cupcakes: More than 40 Festive Recipes by Noga Hitron
Weddings...birthday parties...Valentine's Day dinner...family get-togethers... There's a fancifully decorated cupcake for every occasion in this imaginative collection. Choose from an assortment of tiny treats that feature sweet fondant hearts, daisies, monsters, animals, lollipops, and even a baby booty!