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New Items ~ February 2020

FICTION

American dirt by Jeanine Cummins.  Intensely suspenseful and deeply humane, this novel makes migrants seeking to cross the southern US border indelibly individual.

The bells of hell by Michael Kurland.  A counter-intelligence agent recruits a number of civilians to help foil a suspected terrorist attack by German spies in New York in 1938.

The better liar by Tanen Jones.  When a woman conceals her sister’s death to claim their joint inheritance, her deception exposes a web of dangerous secrets.

The blaze by Chad Dundas.  One man knows the connection between two extraordinary acts of arson, fifteen years apart, in his Montana hometown – if only he could remember it.

Hindsight by Iris Johansen.  Investigator Kendra Michaels whose former blindness has left her with uniquely insightful observation skills – must put her life on the line to catch a murderer setting his sights on some of society’s most vulnerable.

House on fire by Joseph Finder.  Private investigator Nick Heller infiltrates a powerful and wealthy pharmaceutical family hiding something sinister.

The long petal of the sea by Isabel Allende.  This epic spans decades and crosses continents following two young people as they flee the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War in search of a place to call home.

The poison garden by Alex Marwood.  Insidious secrets and chilling revelations surround a mysterious cult.

Recipe for a perfect wife by Karma Brown.  A modern-day woman finds inspiration in hidden notes left by her home’s previous owner, a quintessential 1950s housewife.

Such a fun age by Kiley Reid.  A story of race and privilege, this is set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.

To the edge of sorrow by Aharon Appelfeld.  A haunting novel about an unforgettable group of Jewish partisans fighting the Nazis during World War II.

 Trouble in mind by Michael Wiley.  As a result of being shot in the head while working undercover, Sam Kelson suffers from two unusual brain conditions:  disinhibition, causing him to speak only the truth, and autopagnosia which makes him unable to recognize himself in a mirror.

The vanishing by Jayne Ann Krentz.  Decades ago in the small town of Fogg Lake, The Incident occurred: an explosion in the cave system that released unknown gasses.  The residents slept for 2 days.  When they woke up they discovered that things had changed – they had changed.

Westering women by Sandra Dallas.  This focuses on a motley group of women who form a bond traveling to California on the Overland Trail.  Readers will enjoy this modern take on the journey West that’s rife with girl power.

The wife and the widow by Christian White.  Set against the backdrop of an eerie island town in the dead of winter, this takes you to a cliff edge and asks the question: how well do we really know the people we love?

MUSIC CDs

2020 Grammy Nominees

100 Hits: the best 60s.

The Real ‘70s.

100 hits: the best 80s.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John

DVDs

Downton Abbey (2019) starring Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, and Jim Carter

Judy (2019) starring Renee Zellweger

The Rainmaker (1956) starring Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn

The Ring (2002) starring Naomi Watts

The talk of the town (1942) starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Ronald Coleman

Tales from the Crypt / Vault of Horror (1972) starring Ralph Richardson and Joan Collins

NONFICTION

The baby decision by Merle Bombardieri.  This is a clear, compassionate guide to making a parenting or childfree decision with confidence.

Boys and sex by Peggy Orenstein.  The author interviews young men on hookups, love, porn, consent, and navigating the new masculinity, offering both an examination of sexual culture and a guide on how to improve it.

Falling into joy by Conni Ponturo.  This is a book about joy and how to get it and keep it in our lives.  It is all simpler than we are making it out to be.  We just need to take the small steps towards it.

The in-betweens by Mira Ptacin.  A young writer travels to Etna, Maine to tell the unusual story of America’s longest running camp devoted to mysticism and the world beyond.

Lands of lost borders by Kate Harris.  She and a friend covered 10 countries during a 10 month bike journey from Istanbul to India.  While retracing the path of the ancient Silk Road trade route, they contend with Himalayan-sized hill climbs, unforgiving landscapes, and surly officials.

Life in medieval Europe by Daniele Cybulskie.  Fact and fiction:  what did people actually eat?  Were they really filthy?  And did they ever get to marry for love?  All this and more.

Llewellyn’s complete book of lucid dreaming by Clare Johnson.  A comprehensive guide to promote creativity, overcome sleep disturbances & enhance health and wellness.

Modern flexitarian.  Plant-inspired recipes you can flex to add fish, meat, or dairy.

Never get angry again by David Lieberman.  A comprehensive and holistic look at the underlying emotional, physical, and spiritual causes of anger, and what the reader can do to gain perspective, allowing them to never get angry again.

Nothing fancy by Alison Roman.  This helps you nail dinner with unfussy food, unstuffy vibes, and the permission to be imperfect.

Quit like a woman by Holly Whitaker.  The radical choice to not drink in a culture obsessed with alcohol.

The third rainbow girl by Emma Eisenberg.  An investigation of the murder of two young women – showing how a violent crime casts a shadow over an entire community.  It follows this crime through the complex history of Appalachia, forming a searing portrait of America – its divisions of gender and class, and of its violence.

Tightrope: Americans reaching for hope by Nicholas Kristof.  This issues a plea – deeply personal and told through the lives of real Americans – to address the crisis in working class America, while focusing on solutions to mend a half century of governmental failure.

Tiny habits by B.J. Fogg.  The expert on habit formations show how you can have a happier, healthier life – by starting small.

Travels with myself and another by Martha Gellhorn.  Dry wit and plenty of whiskey buoyed Gellhorn during terrifying flights, insect-infested hotel rooms, and tropical disease as she chased stories across the globe.

The unique states of America.  This takes us on a journey across the states to discover the country’s most iconic – and unique – destinations and experiences.

The valleys of the assassins by Freya Stark.  She blazed across the Middle East in the 1920s and 1930s searching for the legendary mountain home of the Assassins, a warrior sect that defied both crusaders and caliphs.

Welcome to the goddamn ice cube by Blair Braverman.  Chasing adventure, the author left her California hometown at 19 for dogsledding school in the Norwegian Arctic.  Her vivid account offers plenty of thrills and high-flying danger from Norwegian snowdrifts to Alaskan glaciers.

The yellow house by Sarah Broom.  An unforgettable memoir about the inexorable pull of home and family, set in a shotgun house in New Orleans East.

 New Children’s Books

PICTURE BOOKS

Between us and Abuela: a family story from the border by Mitali Perkins

Frida Kahlo and her animalitos by Monica Brown

I’m not Millie! by Mark Pett

Ida and the whale by Rebecca Gugger

The Invisible Leash by Patrice Karst

Moth by Isabel Thomas

Skulls! by Blair Thornburgh

The way I act  by Steve Metzger

CHAPTER BOOKS

Spies: James Armistead Lafayette by Kyandreia Jones

Spies: Mata Hari by Katherine Factor

Talking leaves by Joseph Bruchac

Terror on the Titanic by Jim Wallace

GRAPHIC NOVELS

The brain: the ultimate thinking machine by Tory Woollcott

Cats: nature and nurture by Andy Hirsch

Flying machines: how the Wright brothers soared by Alison Wilgus

Polar bears: survival on the ice by Jason Viola

Rockets: defying gravity by Anne Drozd

Skyscrapers: the heights of engineering by John Kerschbaum

Wild weather: storms, meteorology, and climate by M.K. Reed

Wings of fire: the hidden kingdom by Tui Sutherland

NONFICTION

2020 Maine summer camps: real kids – real camps – real Maine! by Maine Youth Camping Foundation

Animal by Smithsonian

Animals up close by DK

Are you what you eat? by DK

The Bermuda Triangle by Elizabeth Noll

Bigfoot by Elizabeth Noll

Cells : an owner’s handbook by Carolyn Fisher

Cooking class global feast!: 44 recipes that celebrate the world’s cultures by Deanna Cook

Do all Indians live in tipis? by Smithsonian Books

ESP by Elizabeth Noll

Ghosts by Elizabeth Noll

Haunted places by Elizabeth Noll

How did I get here? by Philip Bunting

Human body by Smithsonian

Human body: [a book with guts!] by Dan Green

Science by Smithsonian

The science of poop and farts by Alex Woolf

The science of scabs and pus by Ian Graham

The science of snot and phlegm by Fiona Macdonald

UFOs by Elizabeth Noll

Wait, rest, pause: dormancy in nature by Marcie Atkins

Notes from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, and New York Times Book Review.

January Weather

      January rides the wind

      Annie and Snowball and the magical house

N       Name of the wind

U       Uncommon appeal of clouds

A       After the snow

R        Rising storm

       Young snowboarder

 

W      Winter storms

       Energy from wind

      And the wind blows free

      Tracks in the snow

      Hello snow!

       Eye of the storm

R        Really good snowman

New Items ~ January 2020

FICTION

Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin.  Set in a small Nova Scotia Town settled by former slaves, this depicts several generations of one family bound together and torn apart by blood, faith, time, and fate.

After Kilimanjaro by Gayle Woodson.  Medical fiction of this kind is rare – it’s not a thriller or tearjerker, but a thoughtful novel about doctors, the work they do, and the impact that has on their patients.

The Andromeda evolution by Michael Crichton.  In this sequel to the techno-thriller that started it all, the threat returns in a gripping sequel that is terrifyingly realistic and resonant.  The Evolution is coming.

Arapaho summer by Kinley Roby.  In 1867 two Union veterans and two Arapaho women they rescue from a Lakota war party set off on the Oregon Trail in search of a new beginning.

Bloody genius by John Sandford.  Virgil Flowers will have to watch his back – and his mouth – as he investigates a college culture war turned deadly.

The confession club by Elizabeth Berg.  An uplifting novel about friendship, surprising revelations, and a second chance at love.

Crossroad by Bill Cameron.  On a desolate road in the Oregon high desert, an apprentice mortician stumbles upon a horrific crash – and into a vortex of treachery, long-buried secrets, and growing menace.

Dread journey by Dorothy Hughes.  On a transcontinental train, a starlet fears her director may be trying to kill her.

The family upstairs by Lisa Jewell.  Libby Learns the identity of her parents and inherits a London mansion, but this comes with a mystery of multiple murders.

Genesis by Robin Cook.  This takes on the ripped-from-the-headlines topic of harnessing DNA from ancestry websites to catch a killer.

Guilty, not guilty by Felix Francis.  The husband and brother of an unstable woman who’s been strangled get into a battle royal over which of them will get the other convicted of her murder.

The innocents by Michel Crummey.  Orphaned and alone in 1800s Newfoundland, a young brother and sister contend with the dire hazards of their coastal surroundings.

The kill club by Wendy Heard.  A desperate woman at the end of her rope is drawn into an intriguing, but deadly, scheme.  Just try to put this one down.

A minute to midnight by David Baldacci.  When Atlee Pine returns to her hometown to investigate her sister’s kidnapping from 30 years ago, she winds up tracking a potential serial killer.

Nothing more dangerous by Allen Eskens.  In a small Southern town where loyalty to family and to “your people” carries the weight of a sacred oath, defying those unspoken rules can be a deadly proposition.

The off-islander by Peter Colt.  A Boston-born Vietnam vet and P.I. is hired to find a missing father – but my find far more than he bargained for…

The rise of Magicks by Nora Roberts.  This closes out the trilogy “Chronicles of the One”.

Swede Hollow by Ola Larsmo.  A riveting family saga immersed in the gritty, dark side of Swedish immigrant life in America in the early 20th century.

Stuck in Manistique by Dennis Cuesta.  Two troubled lives intersect in a novel combining cozy mystery, comedy, and reflections on fractured relationships.  A hypnotic tale of family secrets that also features delightfully silly humor.

NEW DVDs

The Crown: the complete second season (2019) starring Claire Foy, Matt Smith, Victoria Hamilton, Vanessa Kirby, and John Lithgow

It: Chapter two (2019) starring Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy

Never too late (1965) starring Paul Ford and Connie Stevens

NONFICTION

A Bookshop in Berlin by Francoise Frenkel.  A rediscovered, prize-winning memoir of a fearless Jewish bookseller on a harrowing fight for survival across Nazi-occupied Europe.

Dynamic dames by Sloan De Forest.  Celebrate 50 of the most empowering and unforgettable female characters ever to grace the silver screen, as well as the artists who brought them to vibrant life!

Eightysomethings by Katharine Esty.  A practical guide to letting go, aging well, and finding unexpected happiness over the age of 80.

Finding Chika by Mitch Albom.  A moving memoir of love and loss.  You can’t help but fall for Chika.  A page-turner that will not doubt become a classic.

Here all along by Sarah Hurwitz.  Finding meaning, spirituality, and a deeper connection to life – in Judaism (after finally choosing to look there).

Hymns of the Republic by S.C. Gwynne.  An engrossing history of the final gasps of the Civil War, a year in which Americans mourned their fathers and brothers and sons but also the way their lives used to be, the people they used to be, the innocence they had lost.

If you tell by Gregg Oslen.  A shocking and empowering true-crime story of three sisters determined to survive their mother’s house of horrors.  A story of murder, family secrets, and the unbreakable bond of sisterhood.

Letters from an astrophysicist by Neil DeGrasse Tyson.  This is like a scientific Dear Abby advice column that talks about black holes, extraterrestrial sightings, and human predicaments.

The lie by William Dameron.  A candid memoir of denial, stolen identities, betrayal, faking it, and coming out.

On flowers by Amy Merrick.  Lessons from an accidental florist.  Merrick is a rare and special kind of artist who uses flowers to help us see the familiar in a completely new way.

On the plain of snakes by Paul Theroux.  Legendary travel writer Theroux drives the entire length of the U.S.-Mexico border, then goes deep into the hinterland on the back roads to uncover the rich, layered world behind today’s brutal headlines.

Unexplained by Richard Smith.  Real-life supernatural stories for uncertain times and not for the easily frightened.

A warning by Anonymous.  A senior official in the Trump administration offers an assessment of the president and makes a moral appeal.

What we will become by Mimi Lemay.  A mother’s memoir of her transgender child’s odyssey, and HER journey outside the boundaries of the faith and culture that shaped her.

The witches are coming by Lindy West.  In this wickedly funny cultural critique, the author exposes misogyny in the #MeToo era.

You are awesome by Neil Pasricha.  How to navigate change, wrestle with failure, and live an intentional life.

 NEW CHILDREN’S BOOKS

PICTURE BOOKS

Aalfred and Aalbert by Morag Hood

Around the table that grandad built  by Melanie Heuiser Hill

Astro girl by Ken Wilson-Max

A big bed for Little Snow by Grace Lin

The Christmas tree who loved trains by Anne Silvestro

A day for skating by Sarah Sullivan

Freedom soup by Tami Charles

Good morning, snowplow! by Deborah Bruss

How to hide a lion at Christmas by Helen Stephens

Just in case you want to fly by Julie Fogliano

Little fox in the snow by Jonathan London

Making a friend by Tammi Sauer

The serious goose by Jimmy Kimmel

Small Walt and Mo the Tow by Elizabeth Verdick

The snowflake mistake by Lou Treleaven

Sofia Valdez, future prez by Andrea Beaty

Telling time by David Adler

This is not that kind of book by Christopher Healy

CHAPTER BOOKS

Beverly, right here by Kate DiCamillo

The forgotten girl by India Hill Brown

Night of the new magicians by Mary Pope Osborne

The Princess in Black and the bathtime battle by Shannon Hale

Two dogs in a trench coat go on a class trip by Julie Falatko

Wings of Fire: the poison jungle by Tui Sutherland

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Dog Man. Fetch 22 by Dav Pilkey

Sunny rolls the dice by Jennifer Holm

Welcome to Wanderland by Jackie Ball

NON-FICTION

Can I eat a mammoth? by Madeline King

Do penguins have emotions? by World Book

Greek myths and mazes by Jan Bajtlik

Why are monkeys so flexible? by World Book

Notes from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, and New York Times Book Review.