On Our Shelves: New Fiction & Non-Fiction

New Fiction

 Snow Hunters by Paul Yoon – This is the story of the extraordinary journey of Yohan, who defects from his country at the end of the Korean War, leaving his friends and family behind to seek a new life on the coast of Brazil.

The Gravity of Birds by Tracy Guzeman – A family lake house, two sisters, and a young painter living next door – the decisions they make one summer will have lasting effects for all of them.

The Rathbones by Janice Clark – A gothic, literary adventure set in New England, Janice Clark’s haunting debut chronicles one hundred years of a once prosperous and now crumbling whaling family, told by its last surviving member.

The Queens Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle – A tale inspired by the life of Henry VIII’s sixth wife follows her reluctant marriage to the egotistical and powerful king in spite of her love for Thomas Seymour, a situation that compels her to make careful choices in a treacherous court.

Little Black Book of Murder by Nancy Martin – Nora Blackbird may have been to the manor borne, but these days money is so tight, she can’t afford to lose her job as a society columnist. So when her new boss at the Philadelphia Intelligencer—Australian tabloid editor Gus Hardwicke—tells her to work the celebrity gossip beat or start checking the want ads, the choice is easy.

New Non-Fiction

 Boy 30529 by Felix Weinberg – Born into a respectable Czech family, Felix’s early years were idyllic. But when Nazi persecution threatened in 1938, his father traveled to England, hoping to arrange for his family to emigrate there. His efforts came too late, and his wife and children fell into the hands of the Fascist occupiers.

Nine Years Under by Sheri Booker – “Six Feet Under” meets The Wire in a dazzling and darkly comic memoir about coming-of-age in a black funeral home in Baltimore.

The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli – This book by world-class thinker and entrepreneur Rolf Dobelli is an eye-opening look at human psychology and reasoning — essential reading for anyone who wants to avoid “cognitive errors” and make better choices in all aspects of their lives.

Serving Victoria by Kate Hubbard – Serving Victoria follows the lives of six members of her household, from the governess to the royal children, from her maid of honor to her chaplain and her personal physician.

Stonehenge – A New Understanding by Mike Pearson – Despite its being one of prehistory’s most alluring landmarks, before the Stonehenge Riverside Project led by noted archeologist Mike Parker Pearson, only half of Stonehenge itself—and far less of its surroundings—had ever been investigated, and many records from previous digs are inaccurate or incomplete.

New Romance

 Castaway Cove by JoAnn Ross – Single dad Mac Culhane has traveled to some of the world’s most dangerous war zones, but now he and his young daughter have settled in Shelter Bay, where he’s become the late-night DJ for the local radio station. The last thing he expects is to connect over the airwaves with a caller….

Behind His Blue Eyes by Kaki Warner – The first in a brand-new Western trilogy set in Heartbreak, Colorado, starring an advance man for the railroad—and the woman whose trust (and heart) he longs to win.

Midnight Games by Elle Kennedy – A master of disguise, Isabel Roma spends her life pretending to be other women.  Normally, her emotions are reined in tight—but sexy mercenary Trevor Callaghan has a knack for getting under her skin. The elite operative’s quiet strength and raw magnetism are a distraction that can quickly turn deadly in their dangerous line of work…

Surrender to Sultry by Mary Beckett – How do you stay under the sheriff’s radar in a town that prides itself on knowing everyone’s business? Leah’s not sure it’s possible, but she’s determined to avoid Colton Bea for as long as she can. Seeing him again would be too heartbreaking-and she knows from experience his bone-melting kisses are way too tempting.

Cowboy Seeks Bride by Carolyn Brown – Rancher Dewar O’Donnell is just an old-fashioned cowboy at heart, and he can’t wait to reenact the historic Chisholm Trail ride with his buddies. The trial-run cattle drive for a reality TV show sounds like a great time—until H.B. McKay pulls up in her slick red sports car…

A Soldier’s Sacrifice : Memorial Day Reads

To many of us,  Memorial Day weekend has come to mean parades, barbecues, or maybe just the kickoff of summer. But the true meaning behind Memorial Day is to commemorate our military men & women who have lost their lives in service to America. After that barbecue, why not check out one of these books that pay tribute to those who’ve served?

Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley. The story behind the raising of the U.S. flag on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945, made famous by the photo on the cover. The men in the photo—three were killed during the battle—were proclaimed heroes and flown home, to become reluctant symbols. For two of them, the adulation was shattering. Only James Bradley’s father truly survived, displaying no copy of the famous photograph in his home, telling his son only: “The real heroes of Iwo Jima were the guys who didn’t come back.” (This book was also adapted for film by Clint Eastwood.)

Jarhead : a Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battlesby Anthony Swofford. The author weaves this experience of war with vivid accounts of boot camp (which included physical abuse by his drill instructor), reflections on the mythos of the marines, and remembrances of battles with lovers and family. As engagement with the Iraqis draws closer, he is forced to consider what it is to be an American, a soldier, a son of a soldier, and a man.

Where Men Win Glory : the Odyssey of Pat Tillman by John Krakauer. Irrepressible individualist and iconoclast Pat Tillman walked away from his $3.6 million NFL contract in May 2002 to enlist in the United States Army. Deeply troubled by 9/11, he felt a strong moral obligation to join the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Two years later, he died on a desolate hillside in Afghanistan. Biographer Krakauer draws on his journals and letters, interviews with his wife and friends, and conversations with the soldiers who served alongside him to tell this story.

The Things They Carried by Tom O’Brien. A fictional story of the war in Vietnam, The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three. This critically acclaimed novel is a meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling.

Top Twenty Book Club Picks

book clubBelow is a list of the top 20 favorite books for book clubs.  How many has your club read?

  1.  The Help – Kathryn Stockett
  2. Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen
  3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer
  4. Sarah’s Key – Tatiana de Rosnay
  5. Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
  6. The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
  7. The Art of Racing In The Rain – Garth Stein
  8. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
  9. The Glass Castle – Jeannette Walls
  10.  Hotel On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet – Jami Ford
  11.  Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – Lisa See
  12.  The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
  13.  The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern
  14.  Little Bee – Chris Cleave
  15.  Cutting for Stone – Abraham Verghese
  16.  Life of Pi – Yann Martel
  17.  The Memory Keepers Daughter – Kim Edwards
  18.  The Paris Wife – Paula McCain
  19.  Still Alice – Lisa Genova
  20.  The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold

Amanda Knox’s Memoir to be Released April 30, 2013

amandaWhether you believe Amanda Knox is guilty or not guilty of killing her college roommate in Italy six years ago, her soon to be released memoir, Waiting To Be Heard, should answer some of the questions the public has.

On November 2, 2007, Amanda’s roommate, Meredith Kercher, was found with her throat slit in the villa they shared in Perugia, Italy.  Amanda, her boyfriend, and a third person were convicted of the murder.  Two years later, the conviction was overturned.  Just this past March, however, Italy’s higher court overturned the acquittal and has ordered a new trial.

Amanda has always maintained her innocence and admits contemplating suicide and fending off unwanted attention from her guards in the Italian prison.  She hopes Meredith’s family reads the book as it is all about “setting the record straight”.

Amanda is currently attending school in Seattle and dating an old friend who wrote her letters while she was in prison.

The Cheshire Public Library has the book on order and it should be arriving soon.  You may place a hold on it at this time.

Listen Up! with an Audiobook

Don’t have time to read?  Driving a long commute, or perhaps an out-of-state trip? Do you have trouble focusing on printed words?  Try an audio book! Cheshire Library has a large collection of books on cd, from mysteries to romance, to fiction, non-fiction, science-fiction, and foreign languages, and we add at least one new selection a day. Here’s a list of just some of our newest additions in the past month:

[Cover]  Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts

Toms River by Dan Fagin

The Hormone Cure by Sara Gottfried

Suspect by Robert Crais[Cover]

Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell

Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody

[Cover]Pukka’s Promise: The Quest for Longer-lived dogs by Ted Kerasote

Rita Moreno: A Memoir By Rita Moreno

The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte [Cover]Cristo by Tom Reiss

The Dogs of War by Lisa Rogak

When Your Parent Becomes Your Child by Ken Abraham

[Cover]Car Talk: 25 Years of Lousy Car Advice

Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II by Keith Lowe

A Land More Kind than Home by Wiley Cash

The Butterfly’s Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe[Cover]

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget by David Wessel

[Cover]My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor