New books at your library
Jodi Picoult’s edgy new novel is a cunning whodunit that explores what it is like to be not only a teenager with Asperger’s Syndrome but also to be an AS kid accused of murder. After Jacob’s arrest, the legal team goes toe to toe with medical ethics, while his brother harbors a dangerous secret, one that will impact the outcome of the trial. This savvy courtroom drama is called “House Rules.”
Critics are calling Helen Simonson’s “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” an “irresistibly delightful, thoughtful and utterly charming novel.” It is the story of 68 year old Maj. Ernest Pettigrew who has settled into a genteel life of quiet retirement who is bemused by anything “modern.” He is smitten with the Pakistani owner of the local tea shop but is nudged off-course by his callow son and by the socialite ladies planning a dinner/dance at his Club.
New woman’s fiction includes “The Sweet Bye and Bye,” a bittersweet and often humorous debut by author Tod Johnson that portrays the lives of five very different Southern women: compassionate Lorraine, bossy Margaret, grief-stricken Bernice, ambitious April and brusque Rhonda. At the center of this character-driven novel is Lorraine, a nurse at the nursing home where Margaret and Bernice live. The story unfolds slowly over decades. “Morning’s Refrain” is the second in Christian author Tracie Peterson’s “Song of Alaska” series. Dark family secrets threaten the tranquility of Dalton Lindquist’s life, also complicated when he and his best friend fall in love with the same woman. “Maps for Lost Lovers” explores the interwoven lives of Pakistani immigrants. The disappearance of Jugnu and Chanda, lovers who broke Islamic law to live in sin, throws the small community into upheaval. Author Nadeem Aslam illustrates the many ways women's lives are restricted and romantic love is denied in the name of religion.
Two new mysteries have been nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for the Edgar Award for the best mystery of 2009. Tim Gautreaux’s “The Missing” has an overall moral theme about justice and revenge. Set in the Louisiana bayou, home to many backwoods families, Sam Simoneaux, half dead after the murder of his parents and the later loss of his two-year-old son to fever, undertakes a quest to find a missing girl. Kathleen George’s “The Odds” is a police procedural featuring Pittsburgh homicide Chief Richard Christie. There is plenty of action with a murder and a drug deals, but the four Philips children—Meg, 13; Joel, 11; Laurie, 10; and Susannah, seven, who are trying to cope with the desertion of their stepmother, are the most interesting storyline in the novel. They don’t report that they are alone, and set about making do with their limited resources but unlimited resolve. When Joel runs across a dead man and a wounded man in an abandoned house, the four decide to help the wounded man avoid the law and the drug dealer on his trail.
Other new mysteries include Kate White’s “Hush,” is about a woman who lies to police because of an ongoing custody battle, a lie which then makes her a suspect in a murder investigation. James Grippando’s new stand alone thriller is about an investment banker, Michael Cantella, who marries his girlfriend, who promptly disappears. Several years later, all of his accounts have been wiped out and the money has been transferred to offshore accounts in his dead wife’s name. This suspense novel is called “Money to Burn.” Jessica Conant-Park’s newest Gourmet Girl mystery finds Chloe Carter reeling from the breakup from her boyfriend Josh. Then the mysterious death of one of Josh’s friends brings him back into her life in “Cook the Books.” Fans of Clive Barker and Christopher Moore will enjoy Joe Hill’s “Horns.” Hill, son of Stephen and Tabitha King, challenges readers to question the traditional line between good and evil. This book is about a man named Ignatius Perrish (called Ig) who wakes up hung over and unable to remember the bad things he did the night before. Also, he now has a pair of horns growing out of his head. Come in and check us out ! ! !
New books at your library
Popular author Danielle Steel publishes about three best selling titles a year. Her first of 2010 is about a plus-size woman named Victoria Dawson who grew up in her beautiful sisters’ shadows, all daughters of narcissistic parents who are disappointed in Victoria’s looks. She eventually flees L.A. and learns to value herself for who she is. The book is called “Big Girl.” Equally popular and prolific Fern Michaels has a stunning new entry in her “Sisterhood” series. “Game Over” The time has come to ask for the pardon promised to them by the U.S. President. To succeed they’ll have to gain entry into the most closely guarded building in the world: the White House. Can they do it?
Three playboys compete to win the attention of a beautiful but mysterious young woman near their favorite SouthBeach bar. Their endeavor turns into a nightmare when the woman reveals she is looking for someone to kill her husband. This tense Joy Fielding novel is called “The Wild Zone.”
New mysteries include another Joanne Fluke mystery, with recipes. Baker Hannah Swensen agrees to help at a massive fund-raising event. The show’s host – who is an ex-lover of both Hannah and her sister – is found dead holding one of Hannah’s delectable pastries in his hand. This latest Fluke novel is called “Apple Turnover Murder.” The latest Alaska mystery by Dana Stabenow finds Aleut PI Kate Shugak and Trooper Jim Chopin starting over to identify remains when the man who was the supposed victim turns up very much alive. It is called “A Night Too Dark.”
When Catherine Land happens on a newspaper ad from a well-to-do businessman in need of a "reliable wife," she invents a plan to benefit from his riches and his need. Her new husband, Ralph Truitt, discovers she's deceived him the moment she arrives in his remote hometown. Driven by a complex mix of emotions and simple animal attraction, he marries her anyway. After the wedding, Catherine helps Ralph search for his estranged son and, despite growing misgivings, begins to poison him with small doses of arsenic. Robert Goolrick’s debut novel “The Reliable Wife” is a darkly nuanced psychological tale that unfolds in ways the reader doesn’t expect.
Aloysius Lutz grew up in a Polish neighborhood in Dunkirk, New York. One of eight children, he was born in the early years of the 20th Century and grew up hearing stories of his grandparents’ immigration to America. He and his son Richard have written a compelling tale about the hardships encountered by a group of poor Polish immigrants, viewed through the eyes of newlyweds Paul and Jadwiga Adamik. The book is called “Jadwiga’s Crossing: A Story of the Great Migration.”
The Library is still well stocked with federal and state tax form, and FAFSA applications. Come in and check us out ! ! !