10/21: New at the library this week

DVDs:

• Madea's family reunion
• Diary of a mad black woman
• Nanny McPhee
• Millions
• Iron monkey

Books:

• Invasive plants of Alaska
• Chicken soup for the gardener's soul/ Jack L. Canfield — Whether you're a master gardener, a struggling beginner, or someone who appreciates all things green, Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul will brighten your day and lift your spirit like the first crocus of spring.
• Under orders / Dick Francis — Sadly, death at the races is not uncommon. However, three in a single afternoon was sufficiently unusual to raise more than one eyebrow. It's the third death on Cheltenham Gold Cup Day that really troubles super-sleuth Sid Halley.
• The king of lies / John Hart — When Work Pickens finds his father murdered, the investigation pushes a repressed family history to the surface and he sees his own carefully constructed façade begin to crack. Work's troubled sister, her combative girlfriend, his gold digging socialite wife, and an unrequited lifelong love join a cast of small town characters that create no shortage of drama in this extraordinary, fast-paced suspense novel.
• The widow / Carla Neggers — Four days after Abigail Browning's wedding, her life changed in a way she never expected: her husband was shot, meeting his death along the rocky Mount Desert Island coast. Was it a random act of violence, or could someone have wanted Christopher dead? That's the question that has haunted Abigail, now a homicide detective, for the past seven years. As determined as ever to find her husband's killer, she returns to the foggy Maine island -- and the home she has inherited there.
• On, off / Colleen McCullough — At the heart of this brilliant blend of suspense, forensic science, eerie and sadistic sexuality, and good old-fashioned storytelling is a dedicated but lonely detective, Lieutenant Carmine Delmonico. The year is 1965, the setting a university town in Connecticut, and serial killers are still referred to as "multiple murderers." Profiling hasn't even begun, so Delmonico has to go it alone on a frantic learning curve that has the killer always two steps ahead of him.
• One drop of blood / Thomas Holland — As the director of the Department of the Army's Central Identification Laboratory, Robert Dean "Kel" McKelvey has made a career solving some of the country's most complex identification cases. But after fifteen years at the CIL, Kel is fast approaching emotional meltdown. And that's when he encounters his thorniest case yet: the recovery of Jimmie Carl Trimble, a soldier from Arkansas who died a hero's death during the Vietnam War.
• Artemis Fowl : the eternity code / Eoin Colfer — Ever the resourceful young criminal mastermind, Artemis has found a way to construct a supercomputer from stolen fairy technology. Called the "C Cube," it will render all existing human technology obsolete. Artemis then arranges a meeting with a Chicago businessman, Jon Spiro, to offer to suppress the Cube for one year in return for gold, his favorite substance. But the meeting is a trap. (Artemis Fowl Series, #3) (Age Range: 9 to 12
• Artemis Fowl : the lost colony / Eoin Colfer — Artemis Fowl, teenage criminal mastermind, has solved temporal equations that no human can. So when a confused and frightened demon pops up in a Sicilian theatre, Artemis is there to meet him. Unfortunately, a second mysterious party has also solved the equations and has managed to abduct the demon. (Artemis Fowl Series, #5) (Age Range: 9 to 12)
• Artemis Fowl / Eoin Colfer — When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll. (Artemis Fowl Series, #1) (Age Range: 9 to 12)
• Artemis Fowl : the opal deception / Eoin Colfer — Artemis is in Munich preparing to steal a famously well-guarded painting from a German bank. Little does he know that his every move is being watched by his old rival, Opal Koboi. The evil pixie has spent the last year in a self-induced coma, plotting her revenge on all those who foiled her attempt to destroy the LEPrecon fairy police. And Artemis is at the top of her list. (Artemis Fowl Series, #4) (Age Range: 9 to 12)
• Artemis Fowl : the Arctic incident / Eoin Colfer — Artemis is at boarding school in Ireland when he suddenly receives an urgent video e-mail from Russia. In it is a plea from his father, who has been kidnapped by the Russian Mafiya. As Artemis rushes to his rescue, he is stopped by Captain Holly Short of the Leprecon fairy police. But this time, instead of battling the fairies, he is going to have to join forces with them if he wants to save one of the few people in the world he loves. (Artemis Fowl Series, #2) (Age Range: 9 to 12)
• The Artemis Fowl files / Eoin Colfer — Two original short stories, plus puzzles, interviews with characters, and other writings that unlock secrets of the Artemis Fowl books, which feature a twelve-year-old evil genius and his dealings with fairies and other magical beings. (Artemis Fowl Series) (Age Range: 9 to 12)
• Snow blind / P. J. Tracy — With the holidays over and the long cold winter looming, January can be a bleak month in Minneapolis. So what better way to bring a little cheer to the good people of the city than by sponsoring an old-fashioned snowman-building contest? In a matter of hours, a local park is filled with the innocent laughter of children and their frosty creations. But things take an awful turn when the dead bodies of police officers are discovered inside two of the snowmen - sending the entire department and Detectives Magozzi and Rolseth on high alert.
• The saddlemaker's wife / Earlene Fowler — Ruby McGavin isn't quite sure what she's doing in the small town of Cardinal. After the death of her husband, Cole, Ruby is shocked to learn from his will that she had inherited part of a cattle ranch in the rustic grasslands of Tokopah County, California. But she is even more surprised to find out that the family he claimed died years ago is very much alive.
• The river killings / Merry Bloch Jones — Zoe Hayes, a divorced art therapist with a six-year-old adopted daughter, returns with another gripping tale set in Philadelphia, this time taking place on the famous Boathouse Row. On summer vacation from her job as an art therapist, Zoe takes a sculling class for fun with her best friend, Susan Cummings. One evening, while her daughter, Molly, waits with Susan's children at the boathouse on the banks of the Schuylkill River, Zoe rows off with Susan to practice for an upcoming regatta. When Susan's oar catches on some flotsam (which turns out to be a woman's dress), the boat flips, and the two find themselves in deep waters with not just one but an entire throng of floating bodies.
• Mercy Watson fights crime / Kate DiCamillo — Leroy Ninker is a small man with a big dream: he wants to be a cowboy, but for now he's just a thief. In fact, Leroy is robbing the Watsons' kitchen right this minute! (Age Range: 6 to 8)
• Mercy Watson goes for a ride / Kate DiCamillo — Mr. and Mrs. Watson's porcine wonder, Mercy, loves nothing more than a ride in the car. It takes a fair amount of nudging and bribing and a "You are such a good sport, darling" to get the portly pig out of the driver's seat, but once the convertible is on the road, Mercy loves the feel of the wind tickling her ears and the sun on her snout. (Age Range: 6 to 8)
• Mercy Watson to the rescue / Kate DiCamillo — To Mr. and Mrs. Watson, Mercy is not just a pig -- she's a porcine wonder. And to the portly and good-natured Mercy, the Watsons are an excellent source of buttered toast, not to mention that buttery-toasty feeling she gets when she snuggles into bed with them. This is not, however, so good for the Watsons' bed. (Age Range: 6 to 8)
• I'll be seeing you / Jerry Borrowman
• The last spymaster / Gayle Lynds — Charles "Jay" Tice was a spy's spy. The chief of the CIA's elite Clandestine Services, he was a legend throughout the world of international intelligence. But secretly he was also a traitor, reputedly selling information that will seriously compromise the security of the United States for decades to come. Since his treachery was exposed, Tice has been kept under strict surveillance in a maximum security prison. Then one morning, his cell is discovered empty.
• Temping fate / Esther Friesner — Temping Fate by Esther Friesner - Until she stumbled upon the Divine Relief Temp Agency, Ilana Newhouse was having a hard time finding a summer job. But when she reports for her first day as a temp, Ilana discovers why Divine Relief isn't shy about hiring someone a little left of ordinary. Ilana, is temping for the extraordinary, life- controlling, Greek mythological goddesses, the Fates. Now her summer is going to be less about surviving a stuffy office and more about avoiding being turned into a pig, or worse! (Ages 12 and up)