The library is currently open Monday through Friday from 10:00am-5:30pm and Saturday 9:30am-12:30pm. The Children's Room and Archives are open by appointment. Please call for details: 207-582-3312.

New Books in the Library


FICTION:
Almost famous women by Megan Bergman.  Here are stories that explore the lives of unforgettable women in history such as Beryl Markham and Edna St. Vincent Millay’s talented sister, Norma.
The alphabet house by Jussi Adler-Olsen.  A psychological thriller set in World War II Nazi Germany mental hospital and in 1970s London.
Black River by S.M. Hulse.  A tense Western that tells the story of a man marked by a prison riot as he returns to the town – and the convict – who shaped him.
Crash and burn by Lisa Gardner.  The investigation of an accident in New Hampshire leads to the discovery of a string of crimes.
Dreaming spies by Laurie King.  Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, are trying to take some time for themselves – only to be swept up in a baffling case that will lead them from the idyllic panoramas of Japan to the depths of Oxford’s most revered institution.

Endangered by C.J. Box.  When his 18 year old ward is found beaten in a ditch, the Montana game warden Joe Pickett suspects her boyfriend, a rodeo star.
February fever by Jess Lourey.  “Murder on the Orient Express” reconfigured as murder on a “Romantic Love Train” that gets stranded in the Rockies.
Funny girl by Nick Hornby.  A beauty queen who idolizes Lucille Ball becomes the star of a hit BBC program in this novel about television in the 1960s.
Heartbreak Hotel by Deborah Moggach.  A hilarious and romantic novel set in a crumbling bed and breakfast that attracts the aged and charming.
Hush hush by Laura Lippman.  The Baltimore private eye Tess Monaghan, a new mother, is asked to provide protection for a woman who killed her own child and is back in town.
Impasse by Royce Scott Buckingham.  A man is left to die in Alaska while on an “adventure vacation” and must somehow survive to get his revenge on those who betrayed him.
In some other world, maybe by Shari Goldhagen.  An engaging story of four young people whose lives continue to intersect at pivotal moments in history.
A little life by Hanya Yanagihara.  Four classmates from a small New England college move to New York to make their way.  Over the decades that follow, their relationships deepen and darken.
Mightier than the sword by Jeffrey Archer.  This opens with an IRA bomb exploding during the MV Buckingham’s maiden voyage across the Atlantic – but how many passengers lose their lives?
Motive by Jonathan Kellerman.  The Los Angeles psychologist-detective Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis, a homicide cop, realize that the murder they’re investigating was committed by a serial killer.
Obsession in death by J.D. Robb.  A murderer is obsessed with Lt. Eve Dallas.
Old Venus by George R.R.Martin.  These sci-fi short stories by some of the genre’s best writers are set on the planet Venus – all with a tip of the hat to Edgar Rice Burroughs and Ray Bradbury.
Plague land by S.D. Sykes.  In this chilling historical mystery, young girls go missing from a medieval English village, and Lord Oswald must find the killer before tragedy strikes again.
Prodigal son by Danielle Steel. Twins, one good and one bad, reunite after 20 years when one of them returns to their hometown.  But it is no longer clear who the good and who the bad one is.
Shame and the captives by Thomas Keneally.  This explores a World War II prison camp where Japanese prisoners resolve to take drastic action to wipe away their shame of being captured.
Turtleface and beyond by Arthur Bradford.  Darkly funny stories by the man David Sedaris calls “the most outlandish and energetic writer I can think of.”
World gone by by Dennis Lehane.  In 1943, the gangster Joe Coughlin, a rising power in the Tampa underworld, discovers that there is a contract out on his life.
NONFICTION:
Alphabetical by Michael Rosen.  How on Earth did we fix upon our 26 letters, what do they really mean, and how did we come to write them down in the first place?
American ghost by Hannah Nordhaus.  The author attempts to uncover the truth about her great-great-grandmother whose ghost is said to haunt an elegant hotel in Santa Fe.
The best place to be today by Sarah Baxter.  365 things to do and the perfect place to do them.
Dead wake by Erik Larson.  An intriguing and entirely engrossing investigation into a legendary disaster of the luxury ocean liner, The Lusitania, that sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool and carrying a record number of children and infants.
Displacement by Lucy Knisley.  The author volunteers to watch over her ailing grandparents on a cruise.  This book is part memoir, part travelogue, and part family history as she not only tries to connect with her grandparents but to reconcile their younger and older selves.
The furniture bible by Christophe Pourny.  Everything you need to know to identify, restore, and care for furniture.
H is for hawk by Helen Macdonald.  Overwhelmed by her father’s death, a British woman decides to raise a goshawk, a bird that is fierce and notoriously difficult to tame.
Homegrown berries.  Successfully grow your own strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and more.
I am not a slut by Leora Tanenbaum.  This gives a generation of tweeting young women some thoughtful and well-researched advice about how to conduct their digital lives. Feminists young and old – this book is for you.
It’s what I do by Lynsey Addario.  This is a heart-pounding and inspirational memoir of a photographer’s life in wartime.
Leaving before the rains come by Alexandra Fuller.  A memoir of a marriage’s collapse by the author of “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight.”
The life-changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kond.  The Japanese art of decluttering and organizing is shown step by step in a revolutionary method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.
Looking at mindfulness by Christopher Andre.  25 ways to live in the moment through art.
Performing under pressure by Hendrie Weisinger.  Managing the pressure that infects our lives.
Sally Ride: America’s first woman in space by Lynn Sherr.  Here is the definitive biography of Sally Ride with exclusive insights from her family and partner.
Sapiens by Yuval Harari.  How Homo Sapiens became Earth’s dominant species.
Ten million aliens by Simon Barnes.  This fascinating scientific foray into the animal kingdom examines how the world’s creatures – weird, wonderful, and everything in between – are inextricably linked.
Notes from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, and New York Times Book Review.

New Books in the Library

 

 

FICTION:
The assassination of Margaret Thatcherand other stories by Hilary Mantel.  The author turns to contemporary England as the setting for a collection of short stories.
Bitter crossing by D.A. Keeley.  A border agent in Aroostook County tries to break up a smuggling ring.
The city of palaces by Michael Nava.  It begins as a love story of two good people – a Catholic and an atheist – who find each other in the corrupt world of belle epoch Mexico City.
Day of atonement by David Liss.  A historical thriller, this portrays 18thcentury Lisbon in vivid detail, leading up to the great earthquake of 1755.  It paints a vivid picture of the waning days of the Spanish Inquisition and of the truly evil religious leaders who led it.
Deadline by John Sandford.  Dognappers and a murdered reporter draw the attention of the Minnesota investigator Virgil Flowers.
Fives and twenty-fives by Michael Pitre.  A war novel with a voice all its own, this will stand as one of the definite renderings of the Iraq experience.
Florence Gordon by Brian Morton.  A wise novel about a woman who has lived life on her own terms for 75 defiant and determined years, only to find herself suddenly thrust to the center of her family’s various catastrophes.
Gray Mountain by John Grisham.  A downsized Wall Street lawyer joins a legal clinic in a small Virginia town, and becomes involved both in real people’s lives and in litigation against the coal mining industry.
Ice shear by M.P. Cooley.  A small town cop’s murder investigation turns deadly when she uncovers a web of politics and drugs linked to an outlaw motorcycle gang.
Motherless child by Glen Hirshberg.  No fangs, no pretty shirtless vampires, and no romance here – this is fine, old-school horror which will delight fans disgusted with the overabundance of vampire lit now dominating the genre.
The paying guests by Sarah Waters.  An enthralling novel about a widow and her daughter who take a young couple into their home in 1920s London.
Prince Lestat by Anne Rice.  The Vampire Chronicles continue after a long hiatus with the reappearance of Lestat de Lioncourt.
Road ends by Mary Lawson.  A woman finally escapes the responsibility of caring for her parent’s dysfunctional family by moving from Canada to London.  Until, that is, the family starts unraveling and her brother calls her back.
Ruth’s journey by Donald McCaig.  Authorized by the Margaret Mitchell Estate, this is the first-ever prequel to Gone With The Wind.  It recounts the life of Mammy, one of literature’s greatest supporting characters, from her days as a slave girl to the outbreak of the Civil War.
The ship of brides by Jojo Moyes.  Australian brides form friendships as they make their way to England after World War II aboard an aircraft carrier.

 

Treat us like dogs and we will become wolves by Carolyn Chute.  When a journalist sets out to investigate the mysterious leader of the nearby homeschool known as “The Prophet”, she is drawn into the life of his self-sufficient counterculture community called The Settlement.
The visitors by Sally Beauman.  A tale of love and loss, this tells of the hunt for King Tut’s tomb and the historic discovery as witnessed through the eyes of a vulnerable child whose fate becomes entangled in the dramatic quest.
The witch: and other tales re-told by Jean Thompson.  Classic fairy tales are brought into the modern age with stories that capture the magic and horror in everyday life.
The wolf in winter by John Connolly.  Carlie Parker is in Prosperous, Maine investigating the death of a homeless man…and the disappearance of his daughter.
NONFICTION:
Artful Christmas by Susan Wasinger.  30 elegant craft projects for those with Neiman Marcus tastes and Target budgets.
Destination unknown by Gay Grant.  Sent away to live with strangers to escape Nazi bombs during the Second World War in England, Patricia Phillips North kept her experiences as a child evacuee secret until another war and an unlikely friendship helped her heal from long-repressed traumas.
Fields of blood: religion and the history of violence by Karen Armstrong.  A sweeping exploration of religion’s connection to violence.
Ghosts, a natural history by Roger Clarke.  This is replete with apparitions, poltergeists, séances and the human longing to believe.
Hate crimes in cyberspace by Danielle Citron.  Frightening and infuriating, this is a demand for legal accountability for Internet barbarism and deserves widespread exposure and serious consideration.
The homeschooling handbook by Lorilee Lippincott.  How to make homeschooling simple, affordable, fun, and effective.
How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman.  A delightful tour through the intimate details of life in Victorian England, told by a historian who has cheerfully endured them all by living in re-created Victorian conditions.
Living hell: the dark side of the Civil Warby Michael Adams.  Mutilation, madness, chronic disease, and advanced physical decay.  Adams clusters the voices of actual soldiers on the firing line or in the hospital ward to create a virtual historical reenactment.
The Nazis next door by Eric Lichtblau.  A Times reporter tracks the disturbingly large post war influx and shows how America became a safe haven for thousands of Nazis after World War II.
On immunity by Eula Biss.  Why do we fear vaccines?  This is a provocative examination by an author who has won the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Only in Spain by Nellie Bennett.  In search of herself, the author fell passionately in love…with the land of flamenco.  This is a foot-stomping, firecracker of a memoir about food, flamenco, and falling in love.
Raw color: the circles of David Smith by David Breslin.  This addresses the relationships between landscape, industry, and the works David Smith realized between the years of 1961-63.  The Circle series was his most ambitious attempt to pair painting and sculpture.
Smoke gets in your eyes by Caitlin Doughty.  A young mortician goes behind the scenes, unafraid of the details of her curious profession.
Some desperate glory by Max Egremont.  The story of World War I through the lives and words of its poets, most of whom during that conflict.
The Swift diet by Kathie Swift.  Devised by a holistic nutritionist, this 4 week plan will be especially useful to readers suffering from Crohn’s and IBS.
The 3 promises by David Pollay.  The author explains how making 3 simple promises to yourself  – “ to find joy every day, do what you love, and to make a difference” – will make your life more positive.
Unbored games by Joshua Glenn.  Compilation of games galore from the indoors to the outdoors, from computer to traditional board games.
The VB6 cookbook by Mark Mittman.  Easy vegan cookbook for healthy vegan meals all day and flexitarian dinners at night.
Notes from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, and New York Times Book Review.

Gay Grant Publication Launch Party!

Please plan on joining the staff of the Gardiner Public Library as they celebrate the publication of a new book by Gardiner author Gay Grant on Tuesday, October 28that 7PM at the Gardiner Public Library. 

 

Destination Unknown: An Evacuee’s Story is the story of a young girl just coming of age when war breaks out.  The Second World War was declared on the day Patricia Phillips turned seven years old. A year later she and her older brother John became “evacuees” when their parents made a life or death choice to send them to live with strangers in order to escape the Nazi bombs. Like millions of other British children, the government’s wartime evacuation scheme helped ensure Pat’s safety, but left deep emotional scars. It took an unlikely friendship with an American writer a generation her junior for Pat to bring back the traumatic memories and heal the wounds of a life forever changed by war. This inspiring memoir is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the healing power of friendship.
Join Ms. Grant as she explains the process of writing this story and the inspiration behind this unique perspective of the bombing of England during World War II.  Copies of the book will be for sale and all proceeds from the event will be used towards the renovation of the library’s Community Archives Room.  Refreshments catered by students of the Capital Area Technical Center Culinary Arts program lead by Chef Charles Izzy.
Gay M. Grant owns and operates The Write Way consulting service, through which she has secured millions of dollars in grants for Maine non-profits, and helped clients tell their own stories. She is the author of Along the Kennebec: The Herman Bryant Collection (Arcadia Publishers) and her articles have appeared in local newspapers and historical publications. Inspired by her participation in the University of Southern Maine’s exchange program with King Alfred’s College in England in 1979, she has travelled frequently to that country to visit friends and to research this book. Grant is serving her first term in the Maine House of Representatives and lives with her husband Ron in South Gardiner, Maine.
The Gardiner Public Library is located at 152 Water Street, Gardiner.  This event is free and opened to the public and for more information call 207-582-3312.