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Week of October 8, 2018

New in Paperback

Week of October 8, 2018

Paperback releases for the week of October 8th include MERRY AND BRIGHT by Debbie Macomber, a delightful holiday novel of first impressions and second chances; DARE NOT LINGER, the long-awaited second volume of Nelson Mandela’s memoirs, left unfinished at his death but now completed by acclaimed South African writer Mandla Langa; MRS. OSMOND, in which John Banville continues the story of Isabel Archer, the young protagonist of Henry James’ beloved THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY; and THE RIVER OF CONSCIOUSNESS, a collection of essays that displays the late Oliver Sacks' passionate engagement with the most compelling ideas of human endeavor --- evolution, creativity, memory, time, consciousness and experience.

The Burn Zone: A Memoir by Renee Linnell - Memoir

October 9, 2018

After seven years of faithfully following her spiritual teacher, Renee Linnell finally realized she was in a cult and had been severely brainwashed. But how did that happen to someone like her? She had graduated magna cum laude with a double degree. She had traveled to nearly 50 countries alone before she turned 35. She was a surf model and a professional Argentine tango dancer. She had started five different companies and had an MBA from NYU. THE BURN ZONE is an exploration of how we give up our power --- how what started out as a need to heal from the loss of her parents and to understand the big questions in life could leave a young woman fighting for her sanity and her sense of self.

Crazy Like a Fox by Rita Mae Brown - Mystery

October 9, 2018

Sister Jane Arnold takes a scenic drive up the Blue Ridge Mountains for a board meeting at the Museum of Hounds and Hunting. Brimming with colorful stories and mementos from hunts of yore, the mansion is plunged into mystery when a venerable hunting horn is stolen right out of its case. The only clue, on a left-behind cell phone, is what seems to be a “selfie” video of the horn’s original owner, Wesley Carruthers --- deceased since 1954. Odder still, Wesley’s body was never found. When Sister makes a discovery that may explain his unsolved disappearance, it leads her back to the Jefferson Hunt at midcentury. But as the clues quickly mount, Sister is no longer sure if she’s pursuing a priceless artifact, a thief, Wesley’s killer…or a ghost.

Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years by Nelson Mandela and Mandla Langa - Memoir

October 9, 2018

In 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first president of a democratic South Africa. During his presidency, he and his government ensured that all of South Africa’s citizens became equal before the law, and he laid the foundation for turning a country riven by centuries of colonialism and apartheid into a fully functioning democracy. DARE NOT LINGER is the story of Mandela’s presidential years, drawing heavily on the memoir he began to write as he prepared to leave office, but was unable to finish. Now the acclaimed South African writer Mandla Langa has completed the task, using Mandela’s unfinished draft, detailed notes that Mandela made as events were unfolding, and a wealth of unseen archival material.

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty - Sociology/Memoir

October 9, 2018

Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty embarks on a global expedition to discover how other cultures care for the dead. From Zoroastrian sky burials to wish-granting Bolivian skulls, she investigates the world’s funerary customs and expands our sense of what it means to treat the dead with dignity. Her account questions the rituals of the American funeral industry --- especially chemical embalming --- and suggests that the most effective traditions are those that allow mourners to personally attend to the body of the deceased.

Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land - Psychological Thriller

October 9, 2018

Milly’s mother is a serial killer. Though Milly loves her mother, the only way to make her stop is to turn her in to the police. Milly is given a fresh start: a new identity, a home with an affluent foster family, and a spot at an exclusive private school. But Milly has secrets, and life at her new home becomes complicated. As her mother’s trial looms, with Milly as the star witness, Milly starts to wonder how much of her is nature, how much of her is nurture, and whether she is doomed to turn out like her mother after all. When tensions rise and Milly feels trapped by her shiny new life, she has to decide: Will she be good? Or is she bad? She is, after all, her mother's daughter.

Kick-Ass Kinda Girl: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Caregiving by Kathi Koll - Memoir

October 9, 2018

Straight from a Hollywood movie script, Kathi and Don Koll built a life of adventure traveling to far off lands at the behest of royalty and heads of state, surviving a carjacking, and cracking jokes with the president. Their joie de vivre made everything feel possible until Don woke up "locked in" after his catastrophic stroke. With unflinching honesty and humor, Kathi shares the realities of a life in uncharted territory as a full-time caregiver. Her ability to share sorrows while laughing at herself helped her find a "New Normal" where she and Don could live each day to its fullest.

Lady of a Thousand Treasures by Sandra Byrd - Historical Romance

October 9, 2018

Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, but the family business is at risk. In the Victorian era, unmarried Eleanor cannot run Sheffield Brothers alone. The death of a longtime client, Baron Lydney, offers an unexpected complication when Eleanor is appointed the temporary trustee of the baron’s legendary collection. She must choose whether to donate the priceless treasures to a museum or allow them to pass to the baron’s only living son, Harry --- the man who broke her heart. Eleanor knows that donating the baron’s collection would win her favor among potential clients, saving Sheffield Brothers. But the more time she spends with Harry, the more her faith in him grows. Might Harry be worthy of his inheritance, and her heart, after all?

Lenin: The Man, the Dictator, and the Master of Terror by Victor Sebestyen - Biography

October 9, 2018

Brought up in comfort and with a passion for hunting and fishing, chess and the English classics, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was radicalized after the execution of his brother in 1887. Victor Sebestyen traces the story from Lenin's early years to his long exile in Europe and return to Petrograd in 1917 to lead the first Communist revolution in history. Uniquely, Sebestyen has discovered that throughout Lenin's life his closest relationships were with his mother, his sisters, his wife and his mistress. The long-suppressed story told here of the love triangle that Lenin had with his wife and his beautiful, married mistress and comrade reveals a more complicated character than that of the coldly one-dimensional leader of the Bolshevik Revolution.

The Lies We Told by Camilla Way - Psychological Thriller

October 9, 2018

Beth has always known there was something strange about her daughter, Hannah --- the lack of emotion, the disturbing behavior, the apparent delight in hurting others. Sometimes Beth is scared of her and what she could be capable of. Luke comes from the perfect family, with the perfect parents. But one day, he disappears without a trace, and his girlfriend, Clara, is desperate to discover what has happened to him. As Clara digs into the past, she realizes that no family is truly perfect, and uncovers a link between Luke's long-lost sister and a strange girl named Hannah. Now Luke's life is in danger because of the lies once told and the secrets once kept. Can Clara find him before it's too late?

The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor - Historical Fiction

October 9, 2018

1838: Northumberland, England. Longstone Lighthouse has been Grace Darling’s home for all of her 22 years. When she and her father rescue shipwreck survivors in a furious storm, Grace becomes celebrated throughout England. But far more precious than her unsought fame is the friendship that develops between Grace and visiting artist George Emmerson. 1938: Newport, Rhode Island. A pregnant Matilda Emmerson has been sent away from Ireland in disgrace. She is to stay with Harriet, a reclusive relative and assistant lighthouse keeper, until her baby is born. A discarded, half-finished portrait opens a window into Matilda’s family history. As a deadly hurricane approaches, two women --- living a century apart --- will be linked forever by their instinctive acts of courage and love.

Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber - Romance

October 9, 2018

Merry Knight is taking care of her family, baking cookies, decorating for the holidays, and hoping to stay out of the crosshairs of her stressed and by-the-book boss at the consulting firm where she temps. Her own social life is the last thing she has in mind, much less a man. Without her knowledge, Merry’s well-meaning mom and brother create an online dating profile for her --- minus her photo --- and the matches start rolling in. Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects --- or desires.

Mrs. Osmond by John Banville - Historical Fiction

October 9, 2018

In MRS. OSMOND, John Banville continues the story of Isabel Archer, the young protagonist of Henry James’ beloved THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. Eager but naïve, in James’ novel Isabel comes into a large, unforeseen inheritance and marries the charming, penniless, and --- as Isabel finds out too late --- cruel and deceitful Gilbert Osmond. Here Banville imagines Isabel’s second chapter, telling the story of a woman reawakened by grief and the knowledge that she has been grievously wronged, and determined to resume her quest for freedom and independence.

Never Coming Back by Alison McGhee - Fiction

October 9, 2018

When Clara Winter left her rural Adirondacks town for college, she never looked back. Her mother, Tamar, a loving but fiercely independent woman who raised Clara on her own, all but pushed her out the door, and so Clara built a new life for herself. Now more than a decade has passed, and Clara, a successful writer, has been summoned home. Tamar has become increasingly forgetful and can no longer live on her own. But just as her mother’s memory is declining, Clara’s questions are building. Why was Tamar so insistent that Clara leave all those years ago? Just what secrets was she hiding?

The River of Consciousness by Oliver Sacks - Science

October 9, 2018

Oliver Sacks is beloved by readers for the extraordinary neurological case histories in which he explored many now-familiar disorders. He was also a memoirist who wrote with honesty and humor about the remarkable experiences that shaped him. In the pieces that comprise THE RIVER OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Dr. Sacks takes on evolution, botany, chemistry, medicine, neuroscience and the arts, and calls upon his great scientific and creative heroes --- above all, Darwin, Freud and William James. The questions they explored --- the meaning of evolution, the roots of creativity, and the nature of consciousness --- lie at the heart of science and of this book.

Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales by P. D. James - Mystery/Short Stories

October 9, 2018

When it comes to crime, it’s not always a question of “whodunit?” Sometimes there’s more mystery in the why or the how. And what about the clever few who carry out what appears to be the perfect crime? Or whose most essential selves are changed by the crimes they commit? And what about those who know the identity of the murderer but keep the information to themselves? These are some of the questions that these six stories begin to unlock as they draw us into the inner workings --- the thoughts and emotional machinations, the recollections and rationalizations, the dreams and desires --- behind both murderous cause and effect.

Tell Tale: Stories by Jeffrey Archer - Fiction/Short Stories

October 9, 2018

Nearly a decade after his last volume of short stories was published, Jeffrey Archer returns with his eagerly-awaited, brand-new collection TELL TALE, giving us a fascinating, exciting and sometimes poignant insight into the people he has met, the stories he has come across and the countries he has visited during the past ten years.

The Trust by Ronald H. Balson - Historical Fiction

October 9, 2018

When his uncle dies, Liam Taggart reluctantly returns to his childhood home in Northern Ireland for the funeral --- a home he left years ago after a bitter confrontation with his family. But when he arrives, Liam learns that not only was his uncle shot to death, but that he had anticipated his own murder. In an astonishing last will and testament, Uncle Fergus has left his entire estate to a secret trust, directing that no distributions be made to any person until the killer is found. As his investigation draws Liam farther and farther into the past he has abandoned, he realizes he is forced to reopen doors long ago shut and locked.

White Dancing Elephants: Stories by Chaya Bhuvaneswar - Fiction/Short Stories

October 9, 2018

A woman grieves a miscarriage, haunted by the Buddha’s birth. An artist with schizophrenia tries to survive hatred and indifference in small-town India by turning to the beauty of sculpture and dance. Orphans in India get pulled into a strange “rescue” mission aimed at stripping their mysterious powers. A brief but intense affair between two women culminates in regret and betrayal. And fragments of history, from child brickmakers to slaves in Renaissance Portugal, are held up in brief fictions, burnished, made dazzling and unforgettable. In 16 remarkable stories, Chaya Bhuvaneswar spotlights diverse women of color facing sexual harassment and racial violence, and occasionally inflicting that violence on each other.