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ALONE ON THE WALL by Alex Honnold, with David Roberts (Sports/Memoir)
Audiobook available, narrated by Andrew Eiden and Will Damron
A 30-year-old climbing phenomenon, Alex Honnold pushes the limits of free soloing beyond anything previously attempted, as he climbs without a rope, without a partner, and without any gear to attach himself to the wall. If he falls, he dies. In ALONE ON THE WALL, Honnold recounts the seven most astonishing achievements thus far in his meteoric career, including free-soloing Sendero Luminoso in Mexico and climbing the Fitz Traverse in Patagonia. Each chapter narrates the drama of one climb, along with reflective and introspective passages that get at what makes Honnold tick. Reviewed by Miriam Tuliao.
AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE: Stories by Helen Ellis (Fiction/Short Stories)
Audiobook available, narrated by Kathleen McInerney, Lisa Cordileone, Rebecca Lowman and Dorothy Dillingham Blue
Meet the women of AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE. They wear lipstick, pearls and sunscreen, even when it's cloudy. They casserole. They pinwheel. They pump the salad spinner like it's a CPR dummy. And then they kill a party crasher, carefully stepping around the body to pull cookies out of the oven. Helen Ellis’ 12 stories take us from a haunted prewar Manhattan apartment building to the set of a rigged reality television show; from the unique initiation ritual of a book club to the getaway car of a pageant princess on the lam; from the gallery opening of a tinfoil artist to the fitting room of a legendary lingerie shop. Reviewed by Maya Gittelman.
THE CROOKED HOUSE by Christobel Kent (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Rachel Atkins
Alison lives her life under the radar. She has no ties, no home, and she spends her days at a backroom publishing job. Which is how she wants it. Because Alison used to be a teenager named Esme, who was the only survivor in a brutal attack on her family. In order to escape from the horror she witnessed, she moved away from her village, changed her name and cut herself off from her past. But soon Alison realizes that that night's events have left a terrible mark on everyone in the village, and she begins to suspect they are all somehow implicated in her family's murder. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
THE DRIFTER by Nicholas Petrie (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Stephen Mendel
Peter Ash came home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with only one souvenir: the buzzing claustrophobia due to post-traumatic stress that has driven him to spend a year roaming in nature. But when a friend from the Marines commits suicide, Ash returns to civilization to help the man’s widow with some home repairs. Under her dilapidated porch, he finds a Samsonite suitcase stuffed with cash and explosives. As Ash begins to investigate this unexpected discovery, he finds himself at the center of a plot that is far larger than he could have imagined. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE GOOD GOODBYE by Carla Buckley (Psychological Suspense)
Audiobook available, narrated by Ali Ahn, Suzy Jackson and Eva Kaminksy
Natalie Falcone gets a phone call every mother dreads: It’s from a hospital emergency room in the town where her daughter, Arden, attends college. Arden has been in a fire, along with Natalie’s niece, Rory --- her estranged brother-in-law's daughter and Arden’s best friend. Natalie rushes to the hospital and learns that both Arden and Rory lie unconscious, and that another student has died in the blaze. The case unearths a portrait of a complex friendship, a love triangle, a fight, and a girl who was struggling more than anyone realized. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
HUNTERS IN THE DARK by Lawrence Osborne (Literary Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Stephen Hogan
Adrift in Cambodia and eager to side-step a life of quiet desperation as a small-town teacher, 28-year-old Englishman Robert Grieve decides to go missing. As he crosses the border from Thailand, he tests the threshold of a new future. And on that first night, a small windfall precipitates a chain of events --- involving a bag of “jinxed” money, a suave American, a trunk full of heroin, a hustler taxi driver, and a rich doctor’s daughter --- that changes Robert’s life forever. Reviewed by Roz Shea.
I AM YOUR JUDGE written by Nele Neuhaus, translated by Steven T. Murray (Mystery)
Audiobook available, narrated by Robert Fass
An elderly woman has been shot and killed while walking her dog. A short while later, another murder is committed, and the modus operandi is eerily similar. Two more murders follow in short order. None of the victims had enemies, and no one knows why they were singled out. As fear of the Taunus Sniper grows among the local residents, the pressure rises on Police Detective Pia Kirchhoff. She and her partner, Oliver von Bodenstein, search for a suspect who appears to murder at will, but as the investigation progresses, the police officers uncover a human tragedy. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE MAN WITHOUT A SHADOW by Joyce Carol Oates (Psychological Suspense)
Audiobook available, narrated by Susan Hanfield
In 1965, neuroscientist Margot Sharpe meets Elihu Hoopes --- the “man without a shadow” --- whose devastated memory, unable to store new experiences or to retrieve the old, will make him the most famous and studied amnesiac in history. Over the course of the next 30 years, Margot herself becomes famous for her experiments with E. H. --- and inadvertently falls in love with him, despite the ethical ambiguity of their affair. Though he remains forever elusive and mysterious to her, she is haunted by mysteries of the past. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
NFL CONFIDENTIAL: True Confessions from the Gutter of Football by Johnny Anonymous (Sports/Memoir)
Audiobook available, narrated by Jeffrey Kafer
In NFL CONFIDENTIAL, a current pro player takes fans on a pseudonymous trip through one of the most infamous years of football --- the very long, sometimes funny, often controversial 2013-2014 season --- sharing raucous, behind-the-scenes, on-the-field and in-the-locker-room truth about life in the National Football League. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.
ORCHARD GROVE by Vincent Zandri (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Hillary Huber and Keith Szarabajka
Orchard Grove is a town like any other, with quiet neighborhoods and apple groves…though Ethan, the depressed screenplay writer, and his secretive wife, Susan, would tell you differently. So would the seductive serial killer living next door. The apple trees are fertilized with evil, and the backyard fences aren’t enough to stop the manipulative mind games and dangerous lies. The lines between good and evil are blurred, and then erased, as Ethan does what it takes to survive. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
ORPHAN X by Gregg Hurwitz (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Scott Brick
Evan Smoak is a man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. He's also a man with a dangerous past. Chosen as a child, he was raised and trained as part of the off-the-books black box Orphan program, designed to create the perfect deniable intelligence assets --- i.e. assassins. He was Orphan X. Evan broke with the program, using everything he learned to disappear. Now, however, someone is on his tail and determined to eliminate him. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE PAST by Tessa Hadley (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Caroline Lennon
Four middle-aged siblings meet in their grandparents’ home in the English town of Kington for a three-week holiday. They have convened to discuss whether or not to sell the house, but family tensions dominate conversations. The brother has brought his Argentinian third wife, whom the three sisters haven’t met. One sister brings an ex-boyfriend’s teenage son; another laments her unsatisfying love life. THE PAST is a quiet exploration of suppressed desire and internal struggles. Reviewed by Michael Magras.
THE READERS OF BROKEN WHEEL RECOMMEND by Katarina Bivald (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Fiona Hardingham and Lorelei King
Broken Wheel, Iowa, has never seen anyone like Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to meet her book-loving pen pal. When she arrives, however, she finds Amy's funeral guests just leaving. The residents of Broken Wheel are happy to look after their bewildered visitor --- not much else to do in a small town that's almost beyond repair. They just never imagined that she'd start a bookstore. Or that books could bring them together --- and change everything. Reviewed by Melanie Reynolds.
THE ROAD TO LITTLE DRIBBLING: Adventures of an American in Britain by Bill Bryson (Travel/Memoir)
Audiobook available, narrated by Nathan Osgood
In 1995, Bill Bryson got into his car and took a weeks-long farewell motoring trip about England before moving his family back to the United States. The book about that trip, NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND, is uproarious and endlessly endearing. Two decades later, he set out again to rediscover that country, and the result is THE ROAD TO LITTLE DRIBBLING. Nothing is funnier than Bill Bryson on the road, so prepare for the total joy and multiple episodes of unseemly laughter. Reviewed by Amie Taylor.
THE THINGS WE KEEP by Sally Hepworth (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Barrie Kreinik and Therese Plummer
Anna Forster, in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease at only 38 years old, resides in Rosalind House, an assisted living facility. There, she meets fellow resident Luke, and a relationship develops between the two. When Eve Bennett is suddenly thrust into the role of single mother, she finds herself putting her culinary training to use at Rosalind House. When she meets Anna and Luke, she is moved by the bond the pair has forged. But when a tragic incident leads Anna's and Luke's families to separate them, Eve finds herself questioning what she is willing to risk to help them. Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.
THE THOUSAND DOLLAR DINNER: America's First Great Cookery Challenge by Becky Libourel Diamond (Cooking/History)
In 1851, 15 wealthy New Yorkers wanted to show a group of Philadelphia friends just how impressive a meal could be and took them to Delmonico's, New York's finest restaurant. They were treated to a magnificent banquet, enjoyed by all. However, not to be outdone, the Philadelphia men invited the New Yorkers to a meal prepared by James W. Parkinson in their city. In what became known as the "Thousand Dollar Dinner," Parkinson successfully rose to the challenge, creating a 17-course extravaganza. In THE THOUSAND DOLLAR DINNER, research historian Becky Libourel Diamond presents the entire 17-course meal, course by course, explaining each dish and its history. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.
WHAT SHE LEFT by T.R. Richmond (Psychological Thriller)
On a snowy February morning, the body of 25-year-old journalist Alice Salmon washes up on a riverbank south of London. Professor Jeremy Cooke, who taught Alice, embarks on a final project --- a book documenting Alice’s life through the digital and paper trails that survive her. Bit by bit, the real Alice --- a complicated and vulnerable young woman --- springs fully formed from the pages of his book…along with a labyrinth of misunderstandings, lies and secrets that cast suspicion on everyone in her circle --- including Jeremy himself. Reviewed by Lorraine W. Shanley.
WRITTEN IN FIRE: Book Three of The Brilliance Trilogy by Marcus Sakey (Science Fiction/Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Luke Daniels
For 30 years, humanity struggled to cope with the brilliants, the one percent of people born with remarkable gifts. Now the White House is a smoking ruin. Madison Square Garden is an internment camp. In Wyoming, an armed militia of thousands marches toward a final, apocalyptic battle. Nick Cooper has spent his life fighting for his children and his country. Now, as the world staggers on the edge of ruin, he must risk everything he loves to face his oldest enemy --- a brilliant terrorist so driven by his ideals that he will sacrifice humanity’s future to achieve them. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
YOUR HEART IS A MUSCLE THE SIZE OF A FIST by Sunil Yapa (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Aaron Landon
On a rainy, cold day in November, young Victor sets out to sell as much marijuana as possible to the throng of WTO demonstrators determined to shut down the city. With the proceeds, he plans to buy a plane ticket and leave Seattle forever, but it quickly becomes clear that the history-making 50,000 anti-globalization protestors are testing the patience of the police, and what started out as a peaceful protest is threatening to erupt into violence. Over the course of one life-altering afternoon, the fates of seven people will change forever. Reviewed by Megan Elliott.
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