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Week of June 2, 2014

New in Paperback

Week of June 2, 2014

Releases for the week of June 2nd include AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED, the highly anticipated new novel by Khaled Hosseini, who explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor and sacrifice for one another; THE SILVER STAR by Jeannette Walls, a heartbreaking and redemptive novel about an intrepid girl who challenges the injustice of the adult world; THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE, Neil Gaiman’s first new novel for adults since ANANSI BOYS, a bewitching and harrowing tale of mystery and survival, memory and magic; and LET'S EXPLORE DIABETES WITH OWLS, in which David Sedaris discusses his misunderstood love of owls, taxidermy, colonoscopies, the pains and pleasures of frequent travel, his remarkable family, and so much more.

The 9th Girl by Tami Hoag - Psychological Thriller

June 3, 2014


The ninth unidentified body to turn up in Minneapolis in 2012 is nicknamed Jane Doe 9. Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska take on the case and discover a shocking fact: This victim has been found without any identifiable characteristics, except for those that peg her as an adolescent girl. Before the investigation is through, the case will take the two detectives deep into the life and death of a teenage girl who wanted nothing more than to be “normal.”

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini - Fiction

June 3, 2014


In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Khaled Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most.

The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel - Social History

June 11, 2013


The American astronauts have been the subject of many books and movies. For their dedication and bravery, they earned a well-deserved place in American history. As the men blasted off into space, left back on terra firma were the wives who kept the homes running and the children cared for. This is a fly-on-the wall look at the lives of those astronaut wives, who became celebrities because of their spouses.

Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen - Thriller/Humor

June 3, 2014


Andrew Yancy has a human arm in his freezer. There’s a logical explanation for that, but not for how and why it parted from its owner. Yancy thinks the boating-accident/shark-luncheon explanation is full of holes, and if he can prove murder, the sheriff might rescue him from his grisly Health Inspector gig. But first, he must negotiate an obstacle course of wildly unpredictable events with a crew of even more wildly unpredictable characters.

Balance: A Story of Faith, Family, and Life on the Line by Nik Wallenda with David Ritz - Memoir

June 3, 2014


Balance is the theme of Nik Wallenda's life: between his work and family, his faith in God and artistry, his body and soul. It resonates from him when performing his high-wire acts and when no one is looking. Nik is an entertainer who wants not only to thrill hearts, but to change hearts for Christ. Christ is the balance pole that keeps him from falling.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding - Fiction

June 3, 2014


Back in the day --- 17 years ago, to be exact --- Helen Fielding and her thirtysomething, potty-mouthed, diary-keeping singleton practically invented Chick Lit. There was a sequel in 1999, then nothing. Now our desperate, ditzy heroine is back, still obsessing over her weight and still looking for love.

The Cartographer of No Man's Land by P. S. Duffy - Historical Fiction

June 2, 2014


When his beloved brother-in-law goes missing at the front in 1916, Angus defies his pacifist upbringing to join the war and find him. Assured a position as a cartographer in London, he is instead sent directly into the visceral shock of battle. Meanwhile, at home, his son Simon Peter must navigate escalating hostility in a fishing village torn by grief.

Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown - Historical Adventure

June 3, 2014


The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail. But Mabbot is hunted by a deadly privateer and plagued by a saboteur hidden on her ship. Can Wedgwood rely on the bizarre crew members he once feared to defend their captain?

Death of the Black-Haired Girl by Robert Stone - Thriller

June 3, 2014


A brilliant but careless professor, Steven Brookman has determined that for the sake of his marriage --- and his soul --- he must extract himself from his relationship with Maud Stack, his electrifying student, whose papers are always late and too long yet always incandescent. But Maud is a young woman whose passions are not easily contained or curtailed, and their union will quickly yield tragic and far-reaching consequences.

Dexter's Final Cut by Jeff Lindsay - Thriller

June 3, 2014


When mega-star Robert Chase and a group of actors descend on the Miami Police Department for "research," Chase becomes fixated on blood spatter analyst Dexter Morgan. To perfect his role, Chase is obsessed with shadowing Dexter's every move and learning what really makes him tick. There is just one tiny problem: Dexter's favorite hobby involves hunting down the worst killers to escape legal justice, and introducing them to his special brand of playtime.

Dissident Gardens by Jonathan Lethem - Fiction

June 3, 2014


At the center of Jonathan Lethem’s new novel stand two extraordinary women: Rose Zimmer, an unreconstructed Communist and mercurial tyrant, and her daughter, Miriam, who flees Rose’s suffocating influence and embraces the Age of Aquarius counterculture of Greenwich Village. Both women cast spells that entrance or enchain the men in their lives. These flawed, idealistic people all struggle to follow their own utopian dreams in an America where radicalism is viewed with bemusement, hostility, or indifference.

Double Feature by Owen King - Fiction

June 3, 2014


Sam Dolan is a young man coming to terms with his life in the process and aftermath of making his first film. He has a difficult relationship with his father, B-movie actor Booth Dolan --- a boisterous, opinionated, lying lothario whose screen legacy falls somewhere between cult hero and pathetic. Unraveling the tumultuous, decades-spanning story of the Dolan family’s friends, lovers, and adversaries, Double Feature is about letting go of everything --- regret, resentment, dignity, moving pictures, the dead --- and taking it again from the top.

The Facades by Eric Lundgren - Comic Mystery

June 3, 2014


One night, in the once-great Midwestern city of Trude, the theater’s most celebrated mezzo-soprano vanishes during rehearsal. When police come up empty-handed, the star’s husband, a disconsolate legal clerk named Sven Norberg, must take up the quest on his own. But to discover the secret of his wife’s disappearance, Norberg must descend into Trude’s underworld and confront the menacing and bizarre citizens of his hometown.

Freud's Mistress by Karen Mack and Jennifer Kaufman - Historical Fiction

June 3, 2014


Minna Bernays, an overeducated lady’s companion with a sharp, wry wit, turns to her sister Martha, a mother struggling with six children and an absent, disinterested husband named Sigmund Freud. While Martha and the scientific community are shocked and repulsed by Freud's "pornographic" work, Minna is fascinated. She and Freud embark on what is at first simply an intellectual courtship, but hides something deeper beneath the surface, a desire that Minna cannot escape.

Good As Gone by Douglas Corleone - Thriller

June 3, 2014


Former U.S. Marshal Simon Fisk works to track down and recover children who were kidnapped by their own estranged parents. However, haunted by the disappearance of his own daughter years ago, he won’t touch stranger abduction cases. Until, that is, six-year-old Lindsay Sorkin disappears, and the French police deliver Simon an ultimatum: he can spend years in a French jail for his actions during a past case, or he can work with them now to find Lindsay.

Headhunters on My Doorstep: A True Treasure Island Ghost Story by J. Maarten Troost - Literary/Adventure Memoir

June 3, 2014


HEADHUNTERS ON MY DOORSTEP chronicles J. Maarten Troost’s return to the South Pacific after his struggle with alcoholism left him numb to life. Deciding to retrace the path once traveled by the author of TREASURE ISLAND, Troost follows Robert Louis Stevenson to the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, Tahiti, Kiribati and Samoa, tumbling from one comic misadventure to another.

I'll Be Right There written by Kyung-Sook Shin, translated by Sora Kim-Russell - Fiction

June 3, 2014


Amid the tremors of political revolution, Jung Yoon, a highly literate, twenty-something woman, recounts her tragic personal history. When Yoon receives a distressing phone call from her ex-boyfriend after eight years of separation, memories of a tumultuous youth begin to resurface. She revisits the death of her beloved mother, the strong bond with her now-dying former college professor, the excitement of her first love, and the friendships forged out of a shared sense of isolation and grief.

The Last Alibi by David Ellis - Legal Thriller

June 3, 2014


Two women have recently been murdered, seemingly by the same killer, and James Drinker thinks he will be the police’s main suspect. He is the only link between the victims and has no alibi for the night of either murder, so he hires Jason Kolarich for his defense. As Kolarich begins to probe his client’s life and story more closely, it quickly becomes clear that nothing about James Drinker is what it seems…and that the target of the frame-up isn’t Drinker, but Kolarich.

Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc. by David Sedaris - Humor/Essays

June 3, 2014


From the unique perspective of David Sedaris comes a new book of essays taking his readers on a bizarre and stimulating world tour. From the perils of French dentistry to the eating habits of the Australian kookaburra, from the squat-style toilets of Beijing to the particular wilderness of a North Carolina Costco, we learn about the absurdity and delight of a curious traveler's experiences.

Loss of Innocence by Richard North Patterson - Historical Fiction

June 3, 2014


The time is June 1968, and America is in turmoil, engulfed in civil unrest in the midst of an unpopular war. As seen through the eyes of 21-year-old Whitney Dane, the summer with her family at Martha’s Vineyard should provide certainty and safety. By the end of that summer, the lives of Whitney and all those closest to her will change in dramatic ways.

The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon: No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith - Mystery

June 3, 2014


Precious Ramotswe has taken on two puzzling cases. Lawyer Mma Sheba, the executor of a deceased farmer’s estate, has a feeling that the young man who has stepped forward may be falsely impersonating the farmer’s nephew in order to claim his inheritance. Meanwhile, rumors are swirling that the Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon is using dangerous products that burn people’s skin. Could someone be trying to put the salon out of business?

The Never Never Sisters by L. Alison Heller - Fiction

June 3, 2014


Marriage counselor Paige Reinhardt is eager to reconnect with her workaholic husband at their cozy rental cottage in the Hamptons. But soon a mysterious crisis at Dave’s work ruins their summer getaway plans. Paige is still figuring out how to handle the unexplained chill in her marriage when her troubled sister suddenly returns after a two-decade silence. As she attempts to dig deeper into Dave’s work troubles and some long-held family secrets, she is shocked to discover how little she knows about the people closest to her.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - Fantasy

June 3, 2014


Once upon a time in a rural English town, an 11-year-old girl named Lettie Hempstock shows a little boy the most marvelous, dangerous and outrageous things beyond his darkest imagination. But an ancient power has been disturbed, and now invasive creatures from beyond the known world are set loose. There is primal horror here, and menace unleashed --- within the boy's family and from the forces that have gathered to consume it.

One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson - Social History

June 3, 2014


In ONE SUMMER, Bill Bryson transports readers on a journey back to one amazing season in American life. A number of major events transpired in that epochal summer of 1927, and Bryson captures its outsized personalities, exciting events and occasional just plain weirdness. In that year, America stepped out onto the world stage as the main event.

Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman - Thriller

June 3, 2014


When Brigid Quinn retired early from the FBI, she thought she could put all her horrible memories of hunting sexual predators behind her. Wanting nothing more than a quiet life with her new husband and their dogs, she moves to Tucson and begins to settle in. However, when Floyd Lynch confesses to the worst of her unsolved crimes and the new FBI agent on the case thinks the confession is fake, Brigid is pulled back into the world she thought she left behind.

Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence by Joseph J. Ellis - History

June 3, 2014


While the 13 colonies came together in 1776 and agreed to secede from the British Empire, the British were dispatching the largest armada ever to cross the Atlantic to crush the rebellion in the cradle. The Continental Congress and the Continental Army were forced to make decisions on the run, improvising as history congealed around them. In REVOLUTIONARY SUMMER, Joseph J. Ellis meticulously examines the most influential figures in this propitious moment.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - Romance/Humor

October 1, 2013


Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially challenged professor of genetics, designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a 16-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers. Rosie Jarman is all these things. But while Don quickly disqualifies her as a candidate, as a DNA expert Don is particularly suited to help Rosie on her own quest: identifying her biological father.

Scared Scriptless by Alison Sweeney - Romance

June 3, 2014


Maddy Carson is a mass of contradictions. She loves her job as Script Supervisor on a hit TV show, but hates "Hollywood." Super-organized and down-to-earth, Maddy is clearly one of the best at her job. Could Wolf County, her beloved hometown in the mountains, be saved from a financial crisis by creating a reality show featuring the eccentrics in the small ski village? Maddy is determined to try.

Screwed by Eoin Colfer - Crime Fiction

June 3, 2014


In this riveting sequel to PLUGGED, Eoin Colfer adds an entirely new chapter to the adventures and misadventures of Daniel McEvoy, the down-on-his-luck Irish bouncer at a seedy New Jersey bar who, with the help of a motley crew of unlikely characters, solved a bizarre string of murders --- including the one of the girl he loved. But people around him continue to die mysteriously, and Daniel is called into action once again.

The Shadow Tracer by Meg Gardiner - Thriller

June 3, 2014


Sarah Keller is a skip tracer, an expert in tracking people who have gone on the lam. When a school bus accident sends her young daughter Zoe to the ER, their quiet life explodes. Zoe’s medical tests reveal that Zoe is not her daughter. Zoe’s biological mother --- Sarah’s sister, Beth --- was murdered shortly after the child’s birth. And Zoe’s father is missing and presumed dead. With no way to prove her innocence, Sarah must abandon her carefully constructed life and go on the run.

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls - Fiction

June 3, 2014


“Bean” Holladay and her sister, Liz, are left to fend for themselves when their mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself. The girls decide to take the bus to Virginia, where their Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that has been in Charlotte’s family for generations. When school starts in the fall, it’s Bean who easily adjusts and makes friends, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn. And then something happens to Liz.

Solo: A James Bond Novel by William Boyd - Historical Thriller/Adventure

June 3, 2014


It's 1969 and, having just celebrated his 45th birthday, James Bond --- British special agent 007 --- is summoned to headquarters to receive an unusual assignment. Zanzarim, a troubled West African nation, is being ravaged by a bitter civil war, and M directs Bond to quash the rebels threatening the established regime.

The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez - Fiction

June 3, 2014


An article transports Antonio Yammara back to when the war between Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel and government forces played out violently in Colombia’s streets and in the skies above. Troubled by disturbing memories of a friend's murder, Antonio begins to discover the many ways in which his own life and his friend’s family have been shaped by his country’s recent violent past.

Subtle Bodies by Norman Rush - Fiction

June 3, 2014


In his long-awaited new novel, Norman Rush, author of three books set in Africa (including the bestselling classic and National Book Award winner MATING), returns home, giving us a sophisticated, often comical, romp through the particular joys and tribulations of marriage, and the dilemmas of friendship, as a group of college friends reunites in upstate New York some 20 years after graduation.

The Warriors by - Thriller/Adventure

June 3, 2014


Lieutenant Colonel Michael Parson is happy with his new assignment as safety officer at a Kyrgyzstan air base. However, on his second day, a C-27 crashes on the runway with a load of electronic gear --- and opium. Parson investigates not only the crash but the source of the cargo, and the answers they find will lead them into a conflict as lethal as any they have known.

The Widow's Strike: A Pike Logan Thriller by Brad Taylor - Thriller

June 3, 2014


In the fourth installment of Brad Taylor’s bestselling thriller series, the Taskforce --- led by Pike Logan and his partner, Jennifer Cahill --- must stop a suicide bomber intent on triggering a global epidemic. THE WIDOW'S STRIKE ties together government-sanctioned terrorist activities, nefarious multinational conglomerates, and frighteningly plausible science.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani - Historical Fiction

June 3, 2014


It is 1930 in the midst of the Great Depression. After her mysterious role in a family tragedy, Thea Atwell has been cast out of her Florida home, exiled to an equestrienne boarding school for Southern debutantes. As Thea grapples with her responsibility for the events of the past year that led her to the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, she finds herself enmeshed in a new order --- one that will change her sense of what is possible for herself, her family and her country.

Zero Hour: A Kurt Austin Adventure by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown - Thriller/Adventure

June 3, 2014


Zero point energy is a state of energy contained in all matter everywhere. Nobody has ever found a way to tap into it --- until one scientist thinks he discovers a way. The problem is, his machines also cause great earthquakes, even fissures in tectonic plates. One machine is buried deep underground; the other is submerged in a vast ocean trench. If Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala and the rest of the NUMA team aren’t able to find and destroy them, the world will be on the threshold of a new era of earth tremors and unchecked volcanism.