9/15: New at the library this week

Books:

• Bone v. 6: Old man's cave / Jeff Smith — As war spreads through the valley, the Bone cousins join Gran'ma Ben and Lucius at Old Man's Cave to make a stand against the rat creatures. But not everything goes as planned. By the end of the book, Phoney Bone is strapped to a stone altar and about to be sacrificed; Thorn is lying lifeless nearby; and the rumblings of an earthquake suggest that the Lord of the Locusts is about to be released. Fone and Smiley Bone must do something drastic to save their friends. (Librarian's note: volumes 3, 4 & 5 are on order, so if you are afraid of spoilers, you may want to wait till they arrive.)
• Vampire Island / Adele Griffin — Life isn’t easy for vegetarian vampires trying to blend in with regular people in a new city. The Livingstone kids are fruit bat hybrids who have left Old World dangers, and immortality, behind for a “normal” life in New York City. But normal doesn’t necessarily mean easy, especially with lingering vampire traits complicating things. (Age Range: 8 to 11)
• The quickie / James Patterson; Michael Ledwidge — Lauren Stillwell is not your average damsel in distress. When the NYPD cop discovers her husband leaving a hotel with another woman, she decides to beat him at his own game. But her revenge goes dangerously awry, and she finds her world spiraling into a hell that becomes more terrifying by the hour. (read a sample chapter)
• New England white / Stephen L. Carter — returns to the New England university town of Elm Harbor, where a murder begins to crack the veneer that has hidden the racial complications of the town’s past, the secrets of a prominent family, and the most hidden bastions of African-American political influence. At the center: Lemaster Carlyle, the university president, and his wife, Julia Carlyle, a deputy dean at the divinity school—African Americans living in "the heart of whiteness." Lemaster is an old friend of the president of the United States. Julia was the murdered man’s lover years ago. The meeting point of these connections forms the core of a mystery that deepens even as Julia closes in on the politically earth-shattering motive behind the murder. (read a sample chapter)
• The secret / Rhonda Byrne — Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it.
• Chocolate indulgences / Linda Collister — Chocolate lovers will be in heaven with this irresitible collection of recipes, from Truffles to Tarts and from Cookies and Cheesecakes.
• A ship made of paper / Scott Spencer — Daniel Emerson lives with Kate Ellis and is like a father to her daughter, Ruby. But he cannot control his desire for Iris Davenport, the African-American woman whose son is Ruby's best friend. During a freak October blizzard, Daniel is stranded at Iris's house and they begin a sexual liaison that eventually imperils all their relationships, Daniel's profession, their children's well-being, their own race- blindness, and their view of themselves as essentially good people. (read a sample chapter)
• Quiet strength : the principles, practices & priorities of a winning life / Tony Dungy; Nathan Whitaker — When Tony Dungy led the Indianapolis Colts to victory in Super Bowl XLI—and made history as the first African American coach to win the big game—millions of people, amazed by the success of his quiet, authoritative leadership style, wondered: how does he get it done? (read a sample chapter)

12/23: New at the library this week

DVDs:

The big valley (Season one)

A song for the season

The Christmas shoes

Cricket on the hearth

The original television Christmas classics (Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, Frosty the snowman, Santa Claus is comin' to town)

The retrievers

The Ponderosa: Comes a horse & The lesser of two evils

The Ponderosa: Brother against brother & Treasure

The tangerine bear

Frankie and Hazel

I was a rat

By dawns early light

The treasure seekers

Franklin's magic Christmas

Return to the secret garden

The penny promise

Rigoletto

Escape from Wildcat Canyon

A fariy tale Christmas

Summer of the monkeys

The princess stallion

Pit pony

A family for Joe

Books:

• Runaways : Pride & joy / Brian K. Vaughan — All young people believe their parents are evil … but what if they really are? Meet Alex, Karolina, Gert, Chase, Molly and Nico – whose lives are about to take an unexpected turn. When these six young friends discover their parents are all secretly super-powered villains, the shocked teens find strength in one another. Together, they run away from home and straight into the adventure of their lives – vowing to turn the tables on their evil legacy.
• Runaways : Teenage wasteland / Brian K. Vaughan — (Runaways Series, #2) (Age Range: Young Adult)
• Runaways : Missing: The good die young / Brian K. Vaughan — The world as we know it is about to end and the Runaways are the only hope to prevent it! But if our fledgling teenage heroes are going to succeed, they may have to become just as evil as their villainous parents. The Runaways have learned how their parents' criminal organization began, and now they must decide how it should end. As the Runaways' epic battle against their evil parents reaches its shocking conclusion, the team's mole stands revealed, and blood must be shed. Which kids will still be standing when the smoke finally clears? This is the story that changes everything (seriously!). (Runaways Series, #3) (Age Range: 12 and up)
• Runaways : True believers / Brian K. Vaughan — When a group of teenagers discovers that their parents are actually super-villains, they run away from home... but that's only step one! Now that the evil Pride is gone, nearly every bad guy in the Marvel Universe is trying to fill the power vacuum in Los Angeles, and the Runaways are the only heroes who can stop them! Plus: What does a mysterious new team of young heroes want with the Runaways, and which fan-favorite Marvel characters are part of this group? (Runaways Series, #4) (Age Range: Young Adult)
• Runaways : Escape to New York / Brian K. Vaughan — The team's lineup changes forever in the perfect jumping-on point for the series that Wizard said "could be the most original book to focus on teenaged super heroes since Spider-Man debuted all the way back in 1962!" When a dangerous alien invades Los Angeles, the Runaways' own Karolina Dean may be the only hero in the Marvel Universe who can stop him... but at what cost? (Runaways Series, #5) (Age Range: Young Adult)
• Gifts / Ursula K. Le Guin — When a young man in the Uplands blinds himself rather than use his gift of "unmaking"--a violent talent shared by members of his family--he upsets the precarious balance of power among rival, feuding families, each of which has a strange and deadly talent of its own. (Age Range: Young Adult)
• Voices / Ursula K. Le Guin — Ansul was once a peaceful town filled with libraries, schools, and temples. But that was long ago, and the conquerors of this coastal city consider reading and writing to be acts punishable by death. And they believe the Oracle House, where the last few undestroyed books are hidden, is seething with demons. But to seventeen-year-old Memer, the house is a refuge, a place of family and learning, ritual and memory--the only place where she feels truly safe. (Age Range: Young Adult)
• Nature girl / Carl Hiaasen — Honey Santana-impassioned, willful, possibly bipolar, self-proclaimed "queen of lost causes"-has a scheme to help rid the world of irresponsibility, indifference, and dinnertime sales calls.
• Naked / David Sedaris — Sedaris's message is pay attention to me. Whether he's taking to the road with a thieving quadriplegic, sorting out the fancy from the extra-fancy in a bleak fruit-packing factory, or celebrating Christmas in the company of a recently paroled prostitute, this collection of memoirs creates a wickedly incisive portrait of an all-too-familiar world.
• Three complete novels / Nelson DeMille — (Word of honor, Cathedral, By the rivers of Babylon)
• Our bodies, ourselves : a new edition for a new era / Boston Women's Health Book Collective — Read a sample chapter, Table of contents
• Arctic lace : knitting projects and stories inspired / Donna Druchunas — Qiviut, or musk ox down, is a world-class fiber--luxurious, warm, and lightweight. People who experience it become obsessed. Qiviut makes perfect hand-knitted lace, as demonstrated by the Alaskan artisans of Oomingmak Musk Ox Producers' Co-op. This book presents how-tos for knitting and designing lace, projects suited to new as well as experienced lace knitters, yarn sources, and comprehensive cultural background.
• A photographer's life : 1990-2005 / Annie Leibovitz —"I don't have two lives," Annie Leibovitz writes in the Introduction to this collection of her work from 1990-2005. "This is one life, and the personal pictures and the assignment work are all part of it."

11/4: New at the library this week

Audiobooks

• Because of Winn-Dixie / Kate DiCamillo

Books:

• Short straw / Stuart Woods — reintroduces Santa Fe lawyer Ed Eagle, who first appeared in Woods's 1992 thriller, Santa Fe Rules. In his first adventure, Ed fell in love with the seductive Barbara Kennerly, and married her — against his better judgment. Turns out that Ed should have listened to his intuition. Ed Eagle awakens the morning after his fortieth birthday to find that Barbara has vanished, and Ed's money — from his business, his bank, and his brokerage accounts — has been wired to the Cayman Islands.
• Snow treasure / Marie McSwigan — In the bleak winter of 19 0, Nazi troops parachuted into Peter Lindstrom's tiny Norwegian village and held it captive. Nobody thought the Nazis could be defeated--until Uncle Victor told Peter how the children could fool the enemy. It was a dangerous plan. They had to slip past Nazi guards with nine million dollars in gold hidden on their sleds. It meant risking their country's treasure--and their lives. (Age Range: 8 to 11)
• Stormbreaker: The Graphic Novel / Anthony Horowitz — They told him his uncle died in a car accident. Fourteen-year-old Alex knows that's a lie, and the bullet holes in his uncle's windshield confirm his suspicions. But nothing prepares him for the news that the uncle he always thought he knew was really a spy for MI6—Britain's top secret intelligence agency. Recruited to find his uncle's killers and complete his final mission, Alex suddenly finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Now is your chance to see this book visualized in a brand-new format, with bold, edgy, manga-like illustrations that bring Alex Rider to life in a way not seen before.(Alex Rider Series; Age Range: Young Adult)
• Ghosthunters and the Gruesome Invincible Lightning Ghost! / Cornelia Caroline Funke — Hugo, still an Averagely Spooky Ghost, and Hetty Hyssop, world-renowned ghosthunter, have formed an agency dedicated to dealing with difficult apparitions. No case can defeat them--until they encounter a Gruesome Invincible Lightning Ghost. This smoking specter has claimed the penthouse suite of a beachfront hotel, where it passes its eternal vacation by turning guests into ghosts themselves. Could Hugo's slime douse the flaming phantom--or are Tom and the team about to get burned? ( Ghosthunters Series, #2; Age Range: 7 to 10)
• Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost / Cornelia Caroline Funke — Nine-year-old Tom can't catch a break: He's a klutz, his sister Lola pretty much hates his guts, and--and this is a BIG "and"--he just found a ghost camping out in his cellar. Lucky for Tom his grandma's best friend just happens to be the world's foremost ghosthunter. Under her expert tutelage, Tom learns the tools of the trade--which just happen to include buckets of graveyard dirt--and soon finds he has to face down not just the Averagely Spooky Ghost (ASG) in his basement but the Incredibly Revolting Ghost (IRG) in town. ( Ghosthunters Series, #1; Age Range: 7 to 10)
• Sugar sugar rune 1 / Moyoko Anno — Chocolat and Vanilla are young witch princesses from a magical land. They've come to earth to compete in a contest - whichever girl captures the most hearts will become a queen! Living in a boarding school, they must make as many boys fall in love with them as possible if they want to achieve their goal. Standing against them are a pair of rival princes looking to capture their hearts because they want to be kings! (publisher's preview)
• Sugar sugar rune 2 / Moyoko Anno — Chocolat's problems in the Human World continue, as sweet and modest Vanilla wins many admirers. But there's more at stake than a contest when Chocolat learns something shocking about Pierre, the boy she's falling for. It is a secret that threatens Chocolat's life and forces her to return to the Magic World to uncover a truth no one in the Kingdom wants to discuss. Worse still, as the challenge heats up, the two best friends find themselves drifting apart and their friendship on the verge of ending!(wikipedia entry)
• Havana Bay / Martin Cruz Smith — The body, what was left of it, was drifting in Havana Bay the morning Arkady arrived from Moscow. Only the day before, he had received an urgent message from the Russian embassy in Havana saying that his friend Pribluda was missing and asking that he come. (Arkady Renko Series, #4)
• Lights out tonight / Mary Jane Behrends Clark — As KEY News film and theater critic, Caroline Enright knows her opinions have influenced the box office habits of millions of Americans. She has taken her fair share of irate phone calls, and even an occasional threat, from disgruntled movie producers and agents angered over her reviews. But she is unprepared when her trip to the Warrenstown Summer Playhouse is interrupted by murder.
• Braids & bows / Anne Akers Johnson
• Beautiful braids : an illustrated step-by-step guide / Judy Rambert
• Album of horses / Marguerite Henry — The award-winning author of the wonderful stories Misty of Chincoteague, King of the Wind, and Brighty of the Grand Canyon, Marguerite Henry describes in vivid detail the hardworking Shire, the elegant Lipizzan, the spirited Mustang, and many more. Never before have facts about horses been more accessible, and with Wesley Dennis's classic illustrations highlighting every page, this unique collection is sure to be treasured by horse lovers of all ages. (Age Range: 7 to 10)
• Just dogs : a literary and photographic tribute to the great hunting breeds — a memorial, a literary and photographic tribute, to those dogs living and gone who have graced the lives of hunters. Here are evocative photographs, literary excerpts, and stories that recreate scenes and events that all who have ever hunted with a favorite dog can recall.
• Past malice / Dana Cameron — Asked to join in a dig at the site of the eighteenth–century Chandler House, archaeologist Emma Fielding and her student crew have descended upon Stone Harbor, Massachusetts. But certain residents of the tiny coastal community are none too happy about Emma's arrival -- especially when her excavation uncovers a pair of freshly slain corpses.
• A fugitive truth / Dana Cameron — The opportunity of a lifetime awaits archaeologist Emma Fielding in the Berkshire foothills of Western Massachusetts: the chance to study the eighteenth-century diary of Margaret Chandler, the accused witch and murderess whose home Emma excavated only months before. However, the three other Shrewsbury Foundation fellows she must share the premises with are a disturbingly odd bunch, and before too long one of them is dead.