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Week of April 7, 2014

New in Paperback

Week of April 7, 2014

Releases for the week of April 7th include BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS, the National Book Award winner from Katherine Boo, who tells the dramatic story of families striving toward a better life in Annawadi, a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport; THE KILL ROOM, Jeffery Deaver's 10th thriller starring former NYPD detective Lincoln Rhyme; LEAVING EVERYTHING MOST LOVED, book #10 in Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, which finds Maisie investigating the murder of Indian immigrants in London; and TAPESTRY OF FORTUNES by Elizabeth Berg, in which four women venture into their pasts in order to shape their futures, fates and fortunes.

The Abomination: Book One of the Carnivia Trilogy by Jonathan Holt - Mystery/Thriller

April 8, 2014


By the stunning white dome of one of Venice’s grandest landmarks, a body with two slugs in the back of the head has been pulled from the icy waters. The victim is a woman, dressed in the sacred robes of a Catholic priest --- a desecration that becomes known as the Abomination. Working her first murder case, Captain Kat Tapo embarks on a trail that proves as elusive and complicated as the city’s labyrinthine backstreets.

The Astor Orphan: A Memoir by Alexandra Aldrich - Memoir

April 8, 2014


Alexandra Aldrich, a direct descendant of John Jacob Astor, tells the story of her eccentric, fractured family; her 1980s childhood of bohemian neglect in the squalid attic of Rokeby, the family’s Hudson Valley Mansion; and her brave escape from the clan. Aldrich reaches back to the Gilded Age when the Astor legacy began to come undone, leaving the Aldrich branch of the family penniless and squabbling over what was left.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo - Current Events/Social Science

April 8, 2014


Annawadi is a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport, and as India starts to prosper, residents are electric with hope. In BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS, the lives of four ambitious Annawadians intertwine --- but tragedy and terror may destroy their dreams.

The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout - Fiction

April 8, 2014


Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their hometown. But their long-standing dynamic is upended when their sister urgently calls them home. And so Jim and Bob return to the landscape of their childhood, where the long-buried tensions that have shaped and shadowed their relationship begin to surface in unexpected ways that will change them forever.

The Cold Song by Linn Ullmann - Mystery

April 8, 2014


When Milla is hired as a nanny to allow Siri to work her long hours at the restaurant she owns and her husband, Jon, to supposedly meet the deadline on his book, life in their idyllic summer community takes a dire turn. One rainy July night, Milla disappears without a trace. After her remains are discovered and a suspect is identified, everyone who had any connection with her feels implicated in the tragedy and haunted by what they could have done to prevent it.

A Guide for the Perplexed by Dara Horn - Fiction

September 9, 2013


Software prodigy Josie Ashkenazi has invented an application that records everything its users do. When an Egyptian library invites her to visit as a consultant, her jealous sister Judith persuades her to go. But in Egypt’s postrevolutionary chaos, Josie is abducted --- leaving Judith free to take over Josie’s life at home, including her husband and daughter, while Josie’s talent for preserving memories becomes a surprising test of her empathy and her only means of escape.

Heart of Palm by Laura Lee Smith - Fiction

April 8, 2014


Utina, Florida is a small, down-at-heels southern town about to meet the tide of an economic growth that it hasn't seen in decades. The Bravos, a local family held together in equal measure by love, unspoken blame, and tenuously brokered truces, have been complacent with the stagnant ways of the sleepy town. So when opportunity knocks, tempers ignite, secrets are unearthed, and each of the Bravos is forced to confront the tragedies of their shared past.

I Can't Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays by Elinor Lipman - Essays

April 8, 2014


In her two decades of writing, Elinor Lipman has populated her fictional universe with characters so utterly real that we feel like they’re old friends. Now she shares an even more intimate world with us --- her own --- in essays that offer a candid, charming take on modern life. Looking back and forging ahead, she considers the subjects that matter most: childhood and condiments, long marriage and solo living, career and politics.

The Innocence Game by Michael Harvey - Thriller

April 8, 2014


The first day of class for graduate students Ian Joyce and Sarah Gold starts like any other --- until a fellow student, Jake Havens, pulls a wrinkled envelope from his backpack. Inside is a bloodstained scrap of shirt from a boy murdered 14 years ago and an anonymous note taking credit for the killing. The only problem is that the alleged murderer is already dead. Suddenly, the class has a new assignment: find the real killer.

The Invisible Girls: A Memoir by Sarah Thebarge - Memoir

April 8, 2014


After nearly dying of cancer in her 20s, Sarah Thebarge fled her successful career, her Ivy League education and a failed relationship, and started over on the West Coast, hoping to quietly pick up the pieces of her broken life. Then she met Hadhi and her five daughters, Somali refugees utterly lost in their new, unfamiliar world. In helping this destitute family, Sarah herself found healing and meaning.

The Kill Room: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel by Jeffery Deaver - Thriller

April 8, 2014


The nation's most renowned investigator and forensics expert, Lincoln Rhyme, is drafted to investigate the murder of an American citizen who was targeted by the US government and assassinated in the Bahamas. While his partner, Amelia Sachs, traces the victim's steps in Manhattan, Rhyme leaves the city to pursue the sniper himself. As details of the case start to emerge, the pair discovers that not all is what it seems.

The Last Summer of the Camperdowns by Elizabeth Kelly - Historical Fiction

April 7, 2014


It’s 1972, and Riddle James Camperdown’s father is running for office from the family compound in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Between Camp’s desire to toughen her up and his wife Greer’s demand for glamour, Riddle has her hands full juggling her eccentric parents. When she accidentally witnesses a crime close to home, her confusion and fear keep her silent. As the summer unfolds, the consequences of her silence multiply.

Leaving Everything Most Loved: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear - Historical Mystery

April 8, 2014


A young Indian woman has been shot, and the redoubtable Maisie Dobbs is on the case. In Jacqueline Winspear’s 10th historical mystery, the victim is an emigrant torn between two worlds, and she echoes the perplexing choice facing Maisie herself: settle down with a good man, or seek her destiny in a quest far from home.

Parenting the Wholehearted Child: Captivating Your Child's Heart with God's Extravagant Grace by Jeannie Cunnion - Parenting

April 8, 2014


Are you exhausted from the pressure to be a perfect parent raising perfect children in this imperfect world? Do you ever wonder, "How did these precious children get stuck with a parent like me?" If so, let these grace-drenched pages saturate your heart with God's unfailing love while also equipping you to be a vessel of God's unconditional love to your children.

Poppet: A Jack Caffery Thriller by Mo Hayder - Thriller

April 8, 2014


Everything goes according to procedure when a patient, Isaac, is released into the community from a high-security mental health ward. But when the staff realizes that he was connected to a series of unexplained episodes of self-harm amongst the ward's patients, and furthermore that he was released in error, they call on Detective Jack Caffery to investigate. Will the terrifying little effigies Isaac made explain the incidents around the ward, or provide the clue Caffery needs to predict what he has planned?

Tapestry of Fortunes by Elizabeth Berg - Fiction

April 8, 2014


Cecilia Ross is looking for a change. She has decided to take time off from her job as a successful motivational speaker and sell her home. She moves in to a beautiful old house in St. Paul, Minnesota, complete with a big front porch, a wild garden, a chef's kitchen --- and three roommates. The four women are different ages, but all are feeling restless, and want to take a road trip to find again the people and things they miss.

The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball's Golden Age by Robert Weintraub - History/Sports

April 8, 2014


In the spring of 1946, with World War II finally over, hundreds of baseball's stars were coming home. It proved to be one of the most memorable seasons in history, capped with a thrilling seven-game World Series. And a new era began, with Jackie Robinson making his professional debut. Robert Weintraub brings to life little-known tales from the war years, including the "world series" service members played in an abandoned Hitler Youth stadium in the fall of 1945.

The View from Penthouse B by Elinor Lipman - Fiction

April 8, 2014


Unexpectedly widowed Gwen-Laura Schmidt is still mourning her husband when her older sister Margot invites her to join forces as roommates in Margot’s luxurious Village apartment. Gwen also brings on a third boarder, the handsome, cupcake-baking Anthony. As the three swap money-making schemes and timid Gwen ventures back out into the dating world, the arrival of Margot’s paroled ex in the efficiency apartment downstairs creates not just complications but the chance for all sorts of unexpected forgiveness.

Walking with Jack: A Father's Journey to Become His Son's Caddie by Don J. Snyder - Memoir

April 8, 2014


Don Snyder and his young son, Jack, made a pact: if one day Jack became good enough to play on the pro golf tour, Don would be his caddie. Years later, Jack was a standout college golfer, and Don moved to St. Andrews, Scotland, to learn from the best caddies in the world. Finally, Don and Jack reunited --- and confronted the challenges of a father-son relationship that had inevitably changed since the days when their journey began.