11/3: New at the library this week

DVDs:

• Hollywood ending
• Foyle's War : Invasion, Bad Blood, Bleak Midwinter, Casualties of war
• The history boys
• CutThroat island
• The passion
• Planet of the apes
• Ghost
• Red dragon

Videos:

• Identity

Books:

• Thursday Next in first among sequels / Jasper Fforde — It's been fourteen years since Thursday pegged out at the 1988 SuperHoop, and Friday is now a difficult sixteen year old. However, Thursday's got bigger problems. Sherlock Holmes is killed at the Rheinback Falls and his series is stopped in its tracks. And before this can be corrected, Miss Marple dies suddenly in a car accident, bringing her series to a close as well. When Thursday receives a death threat clearly intended for her written self, she realizes what's going on—there is a serial killer on the loose in the Bookworld. And that's not all—The Goliath Corporation is trying to deregulate book travel. Naturally, Thursday must travel to the outer limits of acceptable narrative possibilities to triumph against increasing odds. (Thursday Next Series, #5)
• It's getting ugly out there : the frauds, bunglers, liars, and losers who are hurting America / Jack Cafferty — For the millions who watch the "Cafferty File" on CNN's The Situation Room, Jack Cafferty stands for common sense-the much-needed voice of reason who skewers right-wing nut jobs and liberal eggheads alike. For years, he's voiced the views, hopes, and fears of the average American in inimitable style. Now, in It's Getting Ugly Out There, he brings that level-headed wisdom to bear on the most critical issues facing us today-and explains why Americans must take our country back from those who are harming it. (table of contents)
• The first commandment / Brad Thor — Six months ago: In the dead of the night, five of the most dangerous detainees in the war on terror are pulled from their isolation cells in Guantanamo Bay, held at gunpoint, and told to strip off their orange jumpsuits. Issued a civilian clothes and driven to the base airfield, they are loaded aboard a Boeing 727 and set free. Present day: Covert counterterrorism agent Scot Harvath awakens to discover that his world has changed violently - and forever. A sadistic assassin with a personal vendetta in wreaking havoc of biblical proportions. Unleashing nightmarish horrors on those closest to Harvath, the attacker thrusts everything Harvath holds dear - including his life - into absolute peril. (read a sample chapter)
• The deepest water / Kate Wilhelm — Abby Connors' father, Jud, was a novelist whose career finally took off after three novels and years of hard work. Jud was also the most important man in Abby's life, to the chagrin of her husband, Brice. When Jud is murdered in his Oregon lakefront cabin, Abby's life is overturned. Was the killer someone she knew? (read a sample chapter)
• Tell me again about the night I was born / Jamie Lee Curtis — A young girl asks her parents to tell her again the cherished family story of her birth and adoption. (Age Range: 3 to 7)
• Love kills / Edna Buchanan — When a bulldozer in the Everglades unearths the skull of an infamous kidnapper, the Cold Case Squad is brought in to investigate. Britt was the last person to see him alive, and the detectives have questions only she can answer. On a remote desert island where she has sought solace, Montero finds a camera on an isolated beach. The film inside yields photos of a happy young couple on their honeymoon. Soon after, Britt is shocked to learn the newlyweds were lost at sea. When only the groom is rescued, the connection between the reporter and the new widower astonishes her -- and Britt is even more astonished when she finds out the truth. Ultimately, her search for the bridegroom's secrets and the Cold Case Squad's search for the kidnapper's killer collide. (Britt Montero Series, #9; read a sample chapter)
• High noon / Nora Roberts — Police Lieutenant Phoebe MacNamara found her calling at an early age when an unstable man broke into her family's home, trapping and terrorizing them for hours. Now she's Savannah's top hostage negotiator, defusing powderkeg situations with a talent for knowing when to give in-and when to jump in and take action. It's satisfying work-and sometimes those skills come in handy at home dealing with her agoraphobic mother, still traumatized by the break-in after all these years, and her precocious seven-year-old, Carly.
• Killer weekend / Ridley Pearson — Eight years ago, in Sun Valley-snowcapped playground for the wealthy and ambitious-all that stood between U.S. Attorney General Elizabeth Shaler and a knife-wielding killer was local patrolman Walt Fleming. Now Liz Shaler returns to Sun Valley as the keynote speaker of billionaire Patrick Cutter's world-famous media and communications conference, a convergence of the richest, most powerful business tycoons. The controversial attorney general is expected to announce her candidacy for president. It's a media coup for Cutter-but a security nightmare for Walt Fleming, now the county sheriff.
• Washington / Meg Greenfield — Washington is an exploration of a subculture that is both fabled and notorious. Like an anthropologist, Greenfield uses her famous wit, her eye for detail, and her understanding of how political people behave to show us why so many Americans hate Washington, D.C. - and how some who live there manage, despite all the obstacles, to do some good. (read an exerpt)
• You've been warned / James Patterson — Kristin Burns is making her way in New York City. Her photos are being considered at a major Manhattan gallery, she works by day with two wonderful children, and the man of her dreams is almost hers for keeps. But just as everything she's ever wanted is finally within reach, her life changes forever--with one murderous nightmare. (read a sample chapter)
• Dead heat / Dick Francis ; Felix Francis — Max Moreton is a rising culinary star and his Newmarket restaurant, The Hay Net, has brought him great acclaim and a widening circle of admirers. But when nearly all the guests who enjoyed one of his meals at a private catered affair fall victim to severe food poisoning, his kitchen is shuttered and his reputation takes a hit. Scrambling to meet his next obligation, an exclusive luncheon for forty in the glass-fronted private boxes at the Two Thousand Guineas, Max must overcome the previous evening's disaster and provide the new American sponsors of the year's first classic race with a day to remember.
• Playing for pizza / John Grisham — Rick Dockery was the third-string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. In the AFC Championship game against Denver, to the surprise and dismay of virtually everyone, Rick actually got into the game. With a 17-point lead and just minutes to go, Rick provided what was arguably the worst single performance in the history of the NFL. Overnight, he became a national laughingstock and, of course, was immediately cut by the Browns and shunned by all other teams. But all Rick knows is football, and he insists that his agent, Arnie, find a team that needs him. Against enormous odds Arnie finally locates just such a team and informs Rick that, miraculously, he can in fact now be a starting quarterback–for the mighty Panthers of Parma, Italy. (read an exerpt)
• The coldest winter : America and the Korean War / David Halberstam — Halberstam gives us a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides. He charts the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, and that caught Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise. He provides astonishingly vivid and nuanced portraits of all the major figures -- Eisenhower, Truman, Acheson, Kim, and Mao, and Generals MacArthur, Almond, and Ridgway. At the same time, Halberstam provides us with his trademark highly evocative narrative journalism, chronicling the crucial battles with reportage of the highest order. (read a sample chapter)
• The war : an intimate history, 1941-1945 / Geoffrey C. Ward ; Ken Burns — Focusing on the citizens of four towns - Luverne, Minnesota; Sacramento, California; Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama - The War follows more than forty people from 1941 to 1945. Woven largely from their memories, the compelling, unflinching narrative unfolds month by bloody month, with the outcome always in doubt. All the iconic events are here, from Pearl Harbor to the liberation of the concentration camps - but we also move among prisoners of war and Japanese American internees, defense workers and schoolchildren, and families who struggled simply to stay together while their men were shipped off to Europe, the Pacific, and North Africa. (read an exerpt)
• The great American bake sale book / Alison Molinare Boteler
• Drop the hook, let's eat / Rachel Barth
• The tin roof blowdown / James Lee Burke — Hurricane Katrina has left the commercial district and residential neighborhoods awash with looters and predators of every stripe. The power grid of the city has been destroyed, New Orleans reduced to the level of a medieval society. There is no law, no order, no sanctuary for the infirm, the helpless, and the innocent. Bodies float in the streets and lie impaled on the branches of flooded trees. In the midst of an apocalyptical nightmare, Robicheaux must find two serial rapists, a morphine-addicted priest, and a vigilante who may be more dangerous than the criminals looting the city. (Dave Robicheaux Series, #16; read an exerpt)
• The good guy / Dean R. Koontz — Timothy Carrier, having a beer after work at his friend’s tavern, enjoys drawing eccentric customers into amusing conversations. But the jittery man who sits next to him tonight has mistaken Tim for someone very different—and passes to him a manila envelope full of cash. (read an exerpt)
• Blaze / Richard Bachman — The story of Clayton Blaisdell, Jr. -- of the crimes committed against him and the crimes he commits, including his last, the kidnapping of a baby heir worth millions. Blaze has been a slow thinker since childhood, when his father threw him down the stairs -- and then threw him down again. After escaping an abusive institution for boys when he was a teenager, Blaze hooks up with George, a seasoned criminal who thinks he has all the answers. But then George is killed, and Blaze, though haunted by his partner, is on his own. (read a sample chapter)
• Open house / Elizabeth Berg — Samantha's husband has left her, and after a spree of overcharging at Tiffany's, she settles down to reconstruct a life for herself and her eleven-year-old son. Her eccentric mother tries to help by fixing her up with dates, but a more pressing problem is money. To meet her mortgage payments, Sam decides to take in boarders. The first is an older woman who offers sage advice and sorely needed comfort; the second, a maladjusted student, is not quite so helpful. A new friend, King, an untraditional man, suggests that Samantha get out, get going, get work. But her real work is this: In order to emerge from grief and the past, she has to learn how to make her own happiness. (read an exerpt)
• Bon appetit: tastes of the world
• Chocolate fantasies / Oxmoor House
• Miller's international antiques price guide, 2004 / Elizabeth Norfolk
• The country fair cookbook / Alison Molinare Boteler
• The Blue Willow Inn cookbook / Jane Stern — For five years in a row, The Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle, Georgia, 40minutes east of Atlanta, has been voted best small town restaurant in the Southby the readers of Southern Living magazine. Billie and Louis Van Dyke saythat no one is allowed to leave hungry, and certainly no one should after feasting on a variety of Southernsalads, meats, vegetables, breads and desserts and, of course, sweet tea, the"Champagne of the South," and lemonade. Housed in a gloriouslyrestored southern mansion, The Blue Willow Inn is home to Southern hospitalityand charm at its best.
• The King Island journal : The 1951-52 journal of Juan and Rie Munoz, teachers on a Bering Sea island / Juan Munoz ; Rie Munoz — A collection of more than 140 photos and letters from 1951-52, when the Munozes taught school at the village.

10/6: New at the library this week

Audiobooks:

• Beach road (CD) / James Patterson — Montauk lawyer Tom Dunleavy's client list is woefully small - occasional real estate closings barely keep him in paper clips. When he is hired to defend a local man accused in a triple murder that has the East Hampton world in an uproar, he knows that he has found the case of his lifetime. (read a sample chapter)
• Double homicide : Boston : Santa Fe (CD) / Jonathan Kellerman ; Faye Kellerman — It's Christmastime, and police officers Darrel Two Moons and Steve Katz are expecting the usual gang assaults, feuding spouses, and alcohol-related misdemeanors. Then the call comes in from the Historic District: the reported death of an art gallery owner whose bludgeoned body stretches across a bleached pine floor like a big, nasty still life. (read a sample chapter)
• Emma's secret (cassette) / Barbara Taylor Bradford — The legendary Emma Harte, heroine of A Woman of Substance, returns in Emma's Secret, a novel that showcases the storytelling power of Barbara Taylor Bradford.
• Death's acre : inside the legendary forensic lab the Body Farm where the dead do tell tales (CD) / William M. Bass — Dr. Bill Bass, one of the world's leading forensic anthropologists, gained international attention when he built a forensic lab like no other: The Body Farm. Now, this master scientist unlocks the gates of his lab to reveal his most intriguing cases-and to revisit the Lindbergh kidnapping and murder, fifty years after the fact.

DVDs:

• The clearing

Videos:

• The scarlet and the black
• The truth about Charlie
• Oscar's greatest moments
• Penny serenade
• The amazing adventure
• Power yoga with Rodney Yee
• Lower body yoga for beginners (Gaiam)
• Upper body yoga for beginners (Gaiam)
• Yoga conditioning for life (Gaiam)
• Abs yoga for beginners (Gaiam)
• Stress relief yoga
• War and remembrance (12-tape set)

Books:

• The captain's dog : my journey with the Lewis and Clark tribe / Roland Smith — Born the runt of his litter and gambled away to a rusty old riverman, the Newfoundland pup Seaman doesn't imagine his life will be marked by any kind of glory—beyond chasing down rats. But when he meets Captain Meriwether Lewis, Seaman finds himself on a path that will make history. Lewis is just setting off on his landmark search for the Northwest Passage, and he takes Seaman along. Sharing the curiosity and strength of spirit of his new master, Seaman proves himself a valuable companion at every turn. Part history, part science—and adventure through and through—The Captain's Dog is the carefully researched, thrilling tale of America's greatest journey of discovery, as seen through the keen, compassionate eyes of a remarkable dog. (Age Range: Young Adult)
• Seaman : the dog who explored the West with Lewis & Clark / Gail Karwoski —This imaginative retelling of the journey of Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and the Corps of Discovery brings to life an unheralded member of the Corps -- Seaman, a 150-pound Newfoundland dog. As Seaman makes the long trek with the Corps, he serves a key role in the expedition's success. Come along with Seaman and his companions as they explore the vast uncharted lands beyond the Mississippi River. Travel with them as they form friendships with several Indian tribes and welcome Sacagawea to the expedition. Experience with them the many dangers of this wild land. And rejoice with them when they cross the Continental Divide and finally reach their goal -- the rocky shores of the Pacific Ocean. (Age Range: 8 to 12)
• Lewis and Clark and me : a dog's tale / Laurie Myers — From his first meeting with Lewis, to being mistaken for a bear by Indians who had never seen such a large dog, to his encounters with wild animals both familiar and unfamiliar, Seaman's tales are filled with the joys of companionship and the tingling excitement of adventure. (Age Range: 8 to 12)
• Mothers of the South : portraiture of the white tenant farm woman / Margaret Jarman Hagoood — In 1937 Hagood visited 254 tenant houses in the Carolina Piedmont, Georgia, and Alabama, talking with and listening to southern mothers. Mothers of the South records not only the results of her work but the voices, attitudes, and expectations of the people she interviewed. Tenant farming, a widespread way of life in the '30s, began to disappear with the coming of World War II and increased farm mechanization and became virtually nonexistent by the 1970s. Hagood's work is invaluable for its insight into this lost world.
• Alaska hooch : the history of alcohol in early Alaska / Thayne I. Andersen
• Collected poems, 1934-1952 / Dylan Thomas
• Helping children cope with grief / Alan Wolfelt — Guidelines are presented in the book of how one can create a "helping healing relationship." Through reading and participating in the activities presented, the reader will become capable of establishing a very special kind of goal-directed experience with the grieving child. Unites interpretation of human research and grief processes to accentuate the quality of caregiving to children during their grief periods. Explained are the stages through which the grieving person must travel with help, characteristics of a caregiver are expounded, and techniques presented to create the best atmosphere for a grieving child to thrive with love and care.
• Garden almanac : a month-by-month guide / Penelope O'Sullivan — Maintaining a beautiful garden is as simple as following each month's "to do" list in this handy book. Geared to zones 3 to 6, Garden Almanac provides inspiration with color photographs and historic botanical illustrations, and the tools to keep gardens flourishing: easy-to-use monthly overviews, calendars, and task lists.
• Creating birdhouses : 30 delightful projects to turn your garden into a home for birds / Mary Maguire — Choose from 30 projects to create your own birdhouse, table, nesting box, bird feeder or bird bath - each one beautiful, functional and highly individual. Includes traditional, classic designs plus more contemporary projects, as well as tips for decorating existing birdhouses and tables.
• Making old-fashioned Santas / Candie Frankel
• We all shine on : the stories behind every John Lennon song 1970-1980 / Paul Du Noyer —

8/18: New at the library this week

DVDs:

• Stone cold

Books:

• The secrets of a fire king / Kim Edwards — In this, her first collection of stories-now with three new stories added-she explores the lives of those who exist on the fringes of society: a fire-eater, an American and his Korean war bride, Madame Curie's maid, and others.
• The Visual dictionary of everyday things / Dorling Kindersley Limited — Here is an entirely new kind of dictionary — one that is packed iwth vivid photogrpahs and thousands of names for the components that make up familiar objects. The Visual Dictionary of Everyday Things will give you instant access to the specialist vocabulary used in furniture making, clock making, tailoring, bookbinding, and manufacturing a multitude of everyday objects.
• Eyewitness question & answer book / John Farndon
• Seashore / Steve Parker — Here is an original and exciting new look at the fascinating natural world of the seashore. Stunning real-life photographs of crabs, lobsters, tide pools, fish, seals, seabirds and more offer a unique "eyewitness" view of life on the seashore. (table of contents)
• Crystal & gem / R. F. Symes — Here is a spectacular and informative guide to the amazing world of crystals and gems. Superb color photographs of crystals, jewels and gemstones of every color, size and shape offer a unique "eyewitness" insight into their extraordinary beauty and variety. (table of contents)
• Making things : the handbook of creative discovery / Ann Sayre Wiseman — A compilation of the "best selections" from Making Things and Making Things 2, published in the 1970s, this book has many inspirational quotes, philosophical tidbits, and a wealth of creative ideas.
• The beastly book : 100 of the world's most dangerous creatures / Jeanne K. Hanson
• The adventures of Tom Sawyer / Mark Twain — The adventures of a mischievous young boy and his friends growing up in a Mississippi River town in the nineteenth century.
• The Twits / Roald Dahl — How do you outwit a Twit? Mr. and Mrs. Twit are the smelliest, ugliest people in the world. They hate everything -- except playing mean jokes on each other, catching innocent birds to put in their Bird Pies, and making their caged monkeys, the Muggle-Wumps, stand on their heads all day. But the Muggle-Wumps have had enough. They don't just want out, they want revenge. (Age Range: 9 to 12)
• Esio trot / Roald Dahl — Mr. Hoppy is in love with Mrs. Silver, but her heart belongs to Alfie, her pet tortoise. Mr. Hoppy is too shy to approach Mrs. Silver, until one day he comes up with a brilliant idea to win her heart. If Mr. Hoppy's plan works, Mrs. Silver will certainly fall in love with him. But it's going to take one hundred and forty tortoises, an ancient spell, and a little bit of magic. (Age Range: 8 to 12)
• The Borrowers afloat / Mary Norton — The Borrowers, a family of miniature people, journey down a drain, live briefly in a teakettle, and are swept away in a flood before finding a new home. Sequel to "The Borrowers Afield." (Age Range: 9 to 12)
• The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm / Nancy Farmer — The year is 2194, and Tendai, his brother, and his sister -- the children of Zimbabwei's chief of security -- have escaped from their father's estate to explore the dangerous city of Harare. The Ear, the Eye and the Arm was a Newbery Honor Book, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an ALA Notable Children's Book, a BCCB Blue Ribbon Book, and received a Golden Kite Award, and a Parents' Choice Award. (Age Range: 7 to 10)
• The family under the bridge / Natalie Carlson — This is the delightfully warm and enjoyable story of an old Parisian named Armand, who relished his solitary life. Children, he said, were like starlings, and one was better off without them. But the children who lived under the bridge recognized a true friend when they met one, even if the friend seemed a trifle unwilling at the start. And it did not take Armand very long to realize that he had gotten himself ready-made family; one that he loved with all his heart, and one for whom he would have to find a better home than the bridge. (Age Range: 7 to 11; read an exerpt)
• The door in the wall / Marguerite De Angeli — Ever since he can remember, Robin, son of Sir John de Bureford, has been told what is expected of him as the son of a nobleman. He must learn the ways of knighthood. But Robin's destiny is changed in one stroke when he falls ill and loses the use of his legs. Fearing a plague, his servants abandon him and Robin is left alone.
• Abel's island / William Steig — Abel's place in his familiar, mouse world has always been secure; he had an allowance from his mother, a comfortable home, and a lovely wife, Amanda. But one stormy August day, furious flood water carry him off and dump him on an uninhabited island. Despite his determination and stubborn resourcefulness--he tried crossing the river with boats and ropes and even on stepping-stones--Abel can't find a way to get back home. (Age Range: 8 to 12)
• Mrs. Frisby and the rats of Nimh / Robert C. O'Brien — Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse with four small children, is faced with a terrible problem. She must move her family to their summer quarters immediately, or face almost certain death. But her youngest son, Timothy, lies ill with pneumonia and must not be moved. Fortunately, she encounters the rats of NIMH, an extraordinary breed of highly intelligent creatures, who come up with a brilliant solution to her dilemma. And Mrs. Frisby in turn renders them a great service. (Age Range: 9 to 12; on this year's Battle of the Books list)
• No reservations required / Ellen Hart — Twin Cities businessman Ken Loy is the first to die; shot between the eyes during a sunset bike ride. Half an hour later, Bob Fabian, the rich and handsome owner of the Minneapolis Times Register, meets a similar fate. It was a year ago when Loy broadsided the VW Beetle driven by Fabian’s wife, Valerie, killing her instantly. Coincidence? Sleuthing food critic Sophie Greenway doesn’t buy it. (Culinary Mystery Series)
• Call the devil by his oldest name / Sallie Bissell — Haunted by the death of her mother and tortured by the secret that died upon her best friend's lips, assistant district attorney Mary Crow is obsessed with finding the man who holds the key to both those tragedies. (Mary Crow Series, #3; read an exerpt)
• Land of burning heat / Judith Van Gieson — An ancient religion, a family's hidden past, and a modern-day murder confront archivist Claire Reynier in her search for a priceless document. A young woman named Isabel Santos discovers a faded scrap of paper buried for hundreds of years under her family's adobe house. It could be the controversial last words of a Jewish mystic condemned to death by the Inquisition in Mexico City in 1596. (Claire Reynier Series, #4)
• Death angel / Martha Powers — When Kate and Richard Warner's ten-year-old daughter is murdered, the normal world disappears into a nightmare of heartbreak, fear and grief. Kate struggles to keep her own sanity and fight against the rising tide of suspicions. Eventually she realizes that the only way to discover the truth is to join forces with the police, digging through the facts of the crime in order to help bring the murderer to justice.
• Unpaid dues / Barbara Seranella — Munch Mancini is one of those fictional characters who jump off the page and into readers' hearts. Mechanic, limo driver, mom, Munch -- short for Miranda -- has lived a hard life and done it all: sex, drugs, you name it. But now she has her adopted eight-year-old daughter, Asia; she has a house; she has a job she loves. And she has trouble. (Munch Mancini Series, #6; read an exerpt)
• Ordinary heroes / Scott Turow — Stewart Dubinsky knew his father had served in World War II. And he'd been told how David Dubin (as his father had Americanized the name that Stewart later reclaimed) had rescued Stewart's mother from the horror of the Balingen concentration camp. But when he discovers, after his father's death, a packet of wartime letters to a former fiancée, and learns of his father's court-martial and imprisonment, he is plunged into the mystery of his family's secret history and driven to uncover the truth about this enigmatic, distant man who'd always refused to talk about his war.

7/28: New at the library this week

Videos:

• The front page

Books:

• Crispin : the cross of lead / Avi — England in the year 1377. Thirteen-Year-old Crispin, has no parents, no home, no name. Yet he is being pursued, and his life is threatened. As he seeks to find out why, he must first learn who and what he is. (Age Range: 12 and up; 2003 Newbery Medal)
• Body surfing / Anita Shreve — At the age of 29, Sydney has already been once divorced and once widowed. Trying to regain her footing once again, she has answered an ad to tutor the teenage daughter of a wellto- do couple as they spend a sultry summer in their oceanfront New Hampshire cottage. But when the Edwards' two grown sons, Ben and Jeff, arrive at the beach house, Sydney finds herself caught up in a destructive web of old tensions and bitter divisions. As the brothers vie for her affections, the fragile existence Sydney has rebuilt for herself is threatened. (read a sample chapter)
• Secret asset / Stella Rimington — Liz has always been particularly skilled at “assessing people,” and when one of her agents reports suspicious meetings taking place at an Islamic bookshop, she trusts her instinct that a terrorist cell is at work. Her boss, Charles Wetherby, Director of Counter-Terrorism, knows to trust Liz’s instincts as well: he immediately puts a surveillance operation into place. (Liz Carlyle Series, #2; read a sample chapter)
• The night ferry / Michael Robotham — Ali Barba, a Sikh detective with the Metropolitan Police, is recovering from injuries sustained in the line of duty when she receives a letter from her estranged friend, Cate, imploring her to come to their high school reunion. Alarmed by the urgent tone of the note, and eager to make amends for her unforgivable past behavior, Ali goes to the reunion. Cate is pregnant, but before Ali has the chance to congratulate her, Cate hurriedly whispers, “They want to take my baby. You have to stop them.” (read a sample chapter)
• The far reaches / Homer H. Hickam — The year is 1943 and World War II in the Pacific rages on, with Americans engaged in desperate battles against a cunning enemy. Coast Guard Captain Josh Thurlow is on hand at the invasion of Tarawa, as the U.S. Navy begins the grand strategy of throwing her marines at island after bloody island across the Pacific. But nothing goes as planned as young Americans go up against fanatical defenders, who revel in snipers, big guns, and human wave attacks from which there is no escape save death. (read a sample chapter)
• The ladies' man / Elinor Lipman — Thirty unmarried years have passed since the barely suitable Harvey Nash failed to show up at a grand Boston hotel for his own engagement party. Today, the near-bride, Adele Dobbin, and her two sisters, Lois and Kathleen, blame Harvey for what unkind relatives call their spinsterhood, and what potential beaus might characterize as a leery, united front. The doorbell rings one cold April night. Harvey Nash, older, filled with regrets (sort of), more charming and arousable than ever, just in from the Coast, where he's reinvented himself as Nash Harvey, jingle composer and chronic bachelor, has returned to the scene of his first romantic crime. (read a sample chapter)
• Fast food nation : the dark side of the all-American meal / Eric Schlosser — Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but here Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning. (read a sample chapter)
• Knitting in the round / Jeanne Stauffer — With circular-and double-pointed needles, discover the pleasure of having fewer seams to sew at the end. And for larger projects, you won't have long straight needles poking out to the side. (table of contents)
• The good husband of Zebra Drive / Alexander McCall Smith — Automobile repair shop owner Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni -- husband of Botswana's leading, and only, female private detective, Precious Ramotswe -- unexpectedly approaches his wife with the ill-conceived idea of becoming a part-time investigator; one of Matekoni's bumbling apprentices quits; and Ramotswe's longtime assistant, Grace Makutsi, suddenly resigns. (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series, #8; read a sample chapter)

7/21: New at the library this week

Videos:

• The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

DVDs:

• The gods must be crazy

Books:

• The devil's bed / William Kent Krueger — When President Clay Dixon's father-in-law -- a former vice president -- is injured in a farming accident, First Lady Kate Dixon returns to Minnesota to be at his side. Assigned to protect her, Secret Service agent Bo Thorsen soon falls under Kate's spell. He also suspects the accident is part of a trap set for Kate by David Moses, an escaped mental patient who once loved her. What Bo and Moses don't realize is that they're caught in a web of deadly intrigue spun by a seemingly insignificant bureaucratic department within the federal government. (read a sample chapter)
• The Verge practice / Barry Maitland — Scotland Yard's superlative detective duo take on a puzzling case in the posh world of big-name international architecture, and it's got them chasing red herrings and hopping fences from London to Barcelona.
• Embroidered truths / Monica Ferris — After her friend Godwin is arrested for the murder of his boyfriend, Betsy sets out to prove him innocent. She finds that the victim had some dishonest dealings that made him a lot of money-and a lot of enemies. Now, Betsy has to untangle a cat's-cradle of lies if she's going to save Godwin before the murderer decides to cut off the loose ends for good. (Needlecraft Mystery Series, #9)
• The iron girl / Ellen Hart — After years spent mourning the death of her partner, Christine Kane, Minneapolis restaurateur Jane Lawless thinks she's ready to move on. That is, until she finds a gun missing from Christine's belongings. The night before Christine dies of cancer, three members of the Simoneau family, Christine's real estate clients, were murdered. The timing of their deaths appeared coincidental and Jane always assumed Christine knew nothing of the family's secrets. But as she searches for clues to understand what really happened all those many years ago, the gun and a few other discoveries begin to convince Jane otherwise.
• The ice maiden / Edna Buchanan — Fourteen years ago, two teenagers on a Christmas Eve first date were abducted, and only one lived through the ordeal. The lone surviving victim, Sunny Hartley, became a wealthy sculptor, but the reclusive “ice maiden” will not talk about what happened that terrible night. Now a chance encounter in the Miami morgue between reporter Britt Montero and a petty thief, bizarrely electrocuted during the commission of a crime, has placed the still unsolved kidnapping/murder on the front burner of Sgt. Craig Burch's Cold Case Squad. (Britt Montero Series, #8; read a sample chapter)
• Cold case squad / Edna Buchanan — A man and a woman are shot dead at a strip club in Miami Beach. A few hours later, an explosion rocks a child's birthday party, killing a father of three. The murders go unsolved and the blast is deemed an accident. Twelve years later, a blonde walks into the Miami Police Department's Cold Case Squad. She's been seeing her husband everywhere she goes. Trouble is, he's been dead for twelve years. (read a sample chapter)
• Dancing naked at the edge of dawn / Kris Radish — Meg Fratano has just witnessed the unthinkable: her husband of twenty—seven years making love to another woman. In her bed. And all Meg wanted to do was watch. Quietly, secretly, watch. Then she realized her life would never be the same.
• Renegade / Diana Palmer — Newly appointed police chief Cash Grier makes it his personal mission to keep law and order in the streets of Jacobsville. As a true renegade, Cash has learned never to take anything at face value — especially not his gorgeous sworn enemy,"Georgia Firefly" Tippy Moore. But Tippy is no longer a spoiled Hollywood starlet, just an unassuming beauty who has almost as many skeletons in her closet as Cash. Now the hard-edged Texan finds himself powerless to resist their explosive chemistry. (read an exerpt)
• Winter house / Carol O'Connell — never has Mallory faced as many surprises as in the case before her now. It seems cut-and-dried at first: a burglar has been caught in the act and killed by an ice pick-wielding home owner. Except that the home owner turns out to be the most famous lost child in NYPD history, missing for almost sixty years, thought to have been kidnapped following the massacre of her family: five siblings, father, stepmother, nanny, and housekeeper -nearly the entire household wiped out . . . with an ice pick. (Kathleen Mallory Series, #7; read a sample chapter)

6/30: New at the library this week

DVDs:

• Over the hedge

Books:

• Little earthquakes / Jennifer. Weiner — First comes love. Then comes marriage. And then things start to get really interesting...A tale of romance, friendship, forgiveness, and extreme sleep deprivation, as three very different women navigate one of life's most wonderful and perilous transitions: the journey of new motherhood. (read an exerpt)
• Something borrowed / Emily Giffin — tells the story of Rachel, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl---until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend, Darcy, throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiancé. Although she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. (read an exerpt)
• Gossip hound / Wendy Holden — Grace Armiger isn't living the high life. As a publicist in a London publishing house, she spends her days trying to interest an indifferent media in her collection of oddball authors. Home's not much better-her scruffy apartment, untrustworthy boyfriend, and nagging mother aren't doing much to keep her spirits high. Plus, she's just had a wildly inappropriate one-night stand with one of her writers. But when a chance encounter turns into a brush with an A-list celebrity, Grace dares to think her life may finally be taking a promising turn . (read an exerpt)
• In her shoes / Jennifer Weiner — Meet Rose Feller. She's thirty years old and a high-powered attorney with a secret passion for romance novels. She dreams of a man who will slide off her glasses, gaze into her eyes, and tell her that she's beautiful. She also dreams of getting her fantastically screwed-up little sister to get her life. together. Meet Rose's sister, Maggie. Twenty-eight years old, drop-dead gorgeous and only occasionally employed. Although her dreams of big-screen stardom haven't progressed, Maggie dreams of fame and fortune -- and of getting her dowdy big sister to stick to a skin-care regime. These two women with nothing in common but childhood tragedy, shared DNA, and the same size feet, are about to learn that their family is more different than they ever imagine, and that they're more alike, than they'd ever believe. (read an exerpt)
• Miracle in the Andes : 72 days on the mountain and my long trek home / Nando Parrado — In the first hours there was nothing, no fear or sadness, just a black and perfect silence. Nando Parrado was unconscious for three days before he woke to discover that the plane carrying his rugby team, as well as their family members and supporters, to an exhibition game in Chile had crashed somewhere deep in the Andes. He soon learned that many were dead or dying—among them his own mother and sister. Those who remained were stranded on a lifeless glacier at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, with no supplies and no means of summoning help. They struggled to endure freezing temperatures, deadly avalanches, and then the devastating news that the search for them had been called off. (read an exerpt)
• A million little pieces / James Frey — Amemoir of drug addiction and recovery that daused controvery when it was revealed to be partly fabricated. (read an exerpt)
• Snuggle mountain / Lindsey Lane — It's morning, and Emma wants pancakes. But the two-headed giant who lives on Snuggle Mountain has forgotten all about breakfast. So lump by bump, Emma begins her climb up the shaking, quaking mountain to reach the giant's snuggly cave. How can Emma wake the giant without getting caught in the Sleeping Spell? (Age Range: 3 to 6)
• Alaska park science : Scientific studies on climate change in Alaska's national parks / Monica Shah — The tenth issue of Alaska Park Science, entitled “Scientific Studies on Climate Change in Alaska’s National Parks,” focuses on current trends and evidence of climate change. If future projections hold true, the ecological and societal effects of climate change will be considerable in the twenty-first century.
• Maximum Ride : saving the world and other extreme sports / James Patterson — There's one last chance to save the world in MAXIMUM RIDE: SAVING THE WORLD AND OTHER EXTREME SPORTS, the closing chapter of James Patterson's thrilling trilogy. The time has arrived for Max and her winged "Flock" to face their ultimate enemy and discover their original purpose: to defeat the takeover of "Re-evolution", a sinister experiment to re-engineer a select population into a scientifically superior master race...and to terminate the rest. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel have always worked together to defeat the forces working against them--but can they save the world when they are torn apart, living in hiding and captivity, halfway across the globe from one another? (Age Range: 12 and up)
• The navigator : a novel from the Numa files / Clive Cussler — Years before the current Gulf war, a diminutive statue was stolen from the Baghdad Museum. For some reason, this missing Phoenician icon has recently attracted marked interest among men not readily identifiable as art connoisseurs. In fact, the men who seek the so-called Navigator are ruthless killers who have already struck once. Saving the life of a UN investigator, Curt Austin and Zavala learn of this homicidal quest firsthand, thus beginning NUMA's full immersion into a mystery of Da Vinci Code dimensions
• The alibi man / Tami Hoag — She was a vision. She was a siren. She was a nightmare. She was dead. Now he needed her to disappear. And he knew just how to make it happen. The Palm Beach elite go to great lengths to protect their own-and their own no longer includes Elena Estes. Once upon a time a child of wealth and privilege, Elena turned her back on that life. Betrayed and disillusioned by those closest to her, she chose the life of an undercover cop, the hunt for justice her own personal passion. Then a tragic, haunting mistake ended her career. Now Elena exists on the fringes of her old life, training horses for a living. But a shocking event is about to draw her back into the painful vortex she's fought so hard to leave behind. (read an exerpt)
• Bangkok haunts / John Burdett — Sonchai has seen virtually everything on his beat in Bangkok’s District 8, but nothing like the video he’s just been sent anonymously: "Few crimes make us fear for the evolution of our species. I am watching one right now." He’s watching a snuff film. And the person dying before his disbelieving eyes is Damrong—a woman he once loved obsessively and, now it becomes clear, endlessly. And there is something more: something at the end of the film that leaves Sonchai both figuratively and literally haunted. (Sonchai Jitpleecheep Series, #3; read a sample chapter)
• Lawn boy / Gary Paulsen — One day I was 12 years old and broke. Then Grandma gave me Grandpa's old riding lawnmower. I set out to mow some lawns. More people wanted me to mow their lawns. And more and more. . . . One client was Arnold the stockbroker, who offered to teach me about "the beauty of capitalism. Supply and Demand. Diversify labor. Distribute the wealth." "Wealth?" I said. "It's groovy, man," said Arnold. (Age Range: 9 to 12)
• The short bus : a journey beyond normal / Jonathan Mooney — A young man once called unteachable journeys across America to investigate the lives of those, like himself, who are forced to create new ways of living in order to survive Labeled “dyslexic and profoundly learning disabled with attention and behavior problems,” Jonathan Mooney was a short bus rider—a derogatory term used for kids in special education and a distinction that told the world he wasn’t “normal.” Along with other kids with special challenges, he grew up hearing himself denigrated daily. Ultimately, Mooney surprised skeptics by graduating with honors from Brown University. But he could never escape his past, so he hit the road. To free himself and to learn how others had moved beyond labels, he created an epic journey. He would buy his own short bus and set out cross-country, looking for kids who had dreamed up magical, beautiful ways to overcome the obstacles that separated them from the so-called normal world.
• Acacia / David Anthony Durham — Leodan Akaran, ruler of the Known World, has inherited generations of apparent peace and prosperity, won ages ago by his ancestors. A widower of high intelligence, he presides over an empire called Acacia, after the idyllic island from which he rules. He dotes on his four children and hides from them the dark realities of traffic in drugs and human lives on which their prosperity depends. He hopes that he might change this, but powerful forces stand in his way. And then a deadly assassin sent from a race called the Mein, exiled long ago to an ice-locked stronghold in the frozen north, strikes at Leodan in the heart of Acacia while they unleash surprise attacks across the empire. On his deathbed, Leodan puts into play a plan to allow his children to escape, each to their separate destiny. And so his children begin a quest to avenge their father's death and restore the Acacian empire–this time on the basis of universal freedom. (read an exerpt)
• Black holes and baby universes and other essays / Stephen Hawking — These thirteen essays and one remarkable extended interview broadcast over the BBC on Christmas day 1992 range from the autobiographical to the purely scientific. Building on his earlier work, Stephen Hawking discusses imaginary time, how black holes can give birth to baby universes, and scientists' efforts to find a complete unified theory that would predict everything in the universe, a concept that he believes will come to seem as natural to the next generation as the idea that the world is round.
• Good harbor / Anita Diamant — Good Harbor is the long stretch of Cape Ann beach where two women friends walk and talk, sharing their personal histories and learning life's lessons from each other. Kathleen Levine, a longtime resident of Gloucester, Massachusetts, is maternal and steady, a devoted children's librarian, a convert to Judaism, and mother to two grown sons. When her serene life is thrown into turmoil by a diagnosis of breast cancer at fifty-nine, painful past secrets emerge and she desperately needs a friend. Forty-two-year-old Joyce Tabachnik is a sharp-witted freelance writer who is also at a fragile point in her life. She's come to Gloucester to follow her literary aspirations, but realizes that her husband and young daughter are becoming increasingly distant. Together, Kathleen and Joyce forge a once-in-a-lifetime bond and help each other to confront scars left by old emotional wounds. (read an exerpt)
• Judge & jury / James Patterson — Senior FBI agent Nick Pellisante is closing in on the notorious mob boss "The Electrician," when the scheduled sting goes spectacularly awry. Two FBI agents are dead, the boss is wounded, and Pellisante vows the Electrician's next move will be from a jail cell. (large print edition)
• Ricochet / Sandra Brown — When Detective Sergeant Duncan Hatcher is summoned to the home of Judge Cato Laird in the middle of the night to investigate a fatal shooting, he knows that discretion and kid-glove treatment are the keys to staying in the judge's good graces and keeping his job. At first glance, the case appears open-and-shut: Elise, the judge's trophy wife, interrupted a burglary in progress and killed the intruder in self-defense. But Duncan is immediately suspicious of Elise's innocent act. His gut feeling is that her account of the shooting is only partially true -- and it's the parts she's leaving out that bother him. (large print edition; read a sample chapter)
• The Da Vinci code / Dan Brown — While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. (large print edition; read an exerpt)
• The Book of Christmas / Neil Philip ; Sally Holmes — A luminous sampling of 24 stories, carols, and poems for the holiday season, this is a lavish collection of cherishedChristmas writings, at theheart of wh ich lies the Nativity story, told in the words of the King James Bible.
• Michael Hague's favorite Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales / H. C. Andersen — Hans Christian Andersen was one of the greatest storytellers of all time. Michael Hague has chosen nine of Andersen's best-loved fairy tales to illustrate in his unique style.
• Alaska's Kenai Peninsula wildlife viewing trail guide / Doug O'Harra —
• The Alton gift / Marion Zimmer Bradley — After the tragic, untimely death of Regis Hastur, a ruler who struggled lifelong to save the beloved world of his birth from the ambitions of the ruthless Terran Federation, the Terrans have finally abandoned Darkover to pursue interstellar civil war. As Lew Alton-returned home to the world of his birth after decades spent in exile as the Darkovan representative to the Terran Senate-wrestles with the dark shadows from his past, his daughter Marguerida's psychic Gifts warn her of impending danger. But danger to whom?