Hot New Books


Week of August 2, 2010
F C2874d Diary of a confessions queen by Kathy Carmichael When confessions writer Amy Crosby tries to declare her long-missing husband deceased, she endures blackmail, threats on her life, and burglaries, and she must convince police detective Brad Tyler to find the culprit. Equal parts mystery and humor, this novel is sure to keep readers guessing—and laughing—until the end.

F G5352m Maid to match by Deeanne Gist When Tillie Reese is enlisted to help tame the rugged behavior of a mountain-man-turned-footman at the Biltmore, the pair become entangled not only in a cover-up at the town orphanage but in each other as well.

F H623sta Star Island by Carl Hiaasen Ann DeLuisa, body double for drug-addled pop star Cherry Pye, is kidnapped by an obsessed paparazzo, and Cherry's entourage must rescue her while keeping her existence a secret from Cherry's public--and from Cherry herself.

F H6883e Elegies for the brokenhearted by Christie Hodgen Mary Murphy searches for identity and purpose as she tells the story of her erratic childhood, her runaway sister, and the histories of people she's crossed paths with.

F H967th They're watching by Gregg Hurwitz Struggling with setbacks in his marriage and Hollywood ambitions, Patrick Davis begins receiving mysterious DVDs that reveal that he and his wife are being stalked, a situation that is thrown into further turmoil by a mysterious e-mail offer of assistance.

F J287b Beautiful malice by Rebecca James To escape the media attention generated by her sister's murder, a grieving seventeen-year-old Australian girl moves away and meets a vibrant new friend who harbors a dangerous secret.

F P785r Rich boy by Sharon Pomerantz After he rises from a working-class New York Jewish neighborhood in the 1970s to the highest circles of Manhattan society during the Reagan boom, Robert Vishniak sees his carefully crafted identity start to unravel after he bumps into a beautiful woman from the old neighborhood.

F S5616s Super sad true love story by Gary Shteyngart Satirist Shteyngart (Absurdistan, 2006) is mordant, gleeful, and embracive as he funnels today’s follies and atrocities into a devilishly hilarious, soul-shriveling, and all-too plausible vision of a ruthless and crass digital dystopia in which techno-addled humans are still humbled by love and death.

F Y61f Fauna by Alissa York A contemporary human fable that taps into the great tenderness and drama at the heart of the animal world.

F T962w The war that came early west and east by Harry Turtledove An alternate history of World War II continues to explore what would have happened in the lives of leaders, soldiers, and civilians had Great Britain's Neville Chamberlain not appeased Hitler.

M A182s Stein, stoned by Hal Ackerman In the sixties, Harry Stein was the foremost authority on cannabis. Nowadays, he stays straight to keep joint custody of his daughter. But when a crop of 'orchids' goes missing, Stein must re-enter the haze he thought he'd left behind. "A soft-boiled detective story where The Big Lebowski meets Fletch."

M C635s Strange images of death Barbara Cleverly On way to the French Riviera for a vacation, Scotland Yard detective Joe Sandilands agrees to drop his niece off at a chateau for a visit with her father. But with recent vandalism at the chateau, followed by a missing child and then a murder, Sandilands realizes he is no longer on vacation.

M J33q Queen of the night by J.A. Jance The traditions of the Tohono O'odham people are woven into the fabric of three families as Dr. Lani Walker and Pima County homicide investigator Brian Fellows join forces to protect a little girl who witnessed her mother's murder.

SC F5272c First thrills: high-octane stories from the hottest thriller authors edited by Lee Child An anthology of previously unpublished work includes contributions by favorite genre authors and a selection of up-and-coming writers.

SF H757f Blonde bombshell by Tom Holt A comedy of intergalactic proportions. Aliens from the planet Ostar send Mark Two, a human bomb, to destroy Earth in 2017, but a banker investigating the disappearance of trillions of dollars and Linda--the first human bomb sent for the job who is now a CEO--get in his way.

322.1 P562 The world turned upside down: the global battle over god, truth, and power by Melanie Phillips In what we tell ourselves is an age of reason, we are behaving increasingly irrationally. Melanie Phillips explains that the basic cause of this explosion of irrationality is the slow but steady marginalization of religion.

332.02401 N427 What color is your parachute? for retirement: planning a prosperous, healthy, and happy future by John E. Nelson and Richard N. Bolles A revised edition of the definitive retirement guide for people of all career stages.

361.7632 S193m Spirited commitment: the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation, 1952-2007 by Roderick MacLeod and Eric John Abrahamson An illuminating and vibrant portrait of the personalities, motivations, and strategies behind the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation, Spirited Commitment is a revealing, insightful account of the inner workings of philanthropic foundations.

365.45 L755 Somewhere inside: one sister's captivity in North Korea and the other's fight to bring her home by Laura Ling and Lisa Ling The never-before-told story of Laura Ling's capture by the North Koreans and the role her journalist sister Lisa played in bringing about her rescue by President Bill Clinton. Told in the sisters' alternating voices, this is a timely, inspiring, and page-turning tale of survival set against the canvas of international politics.

381.456 D664 Fur, fortune, and empire: the epic history of the fur trade in America by Eric Jay Dolin Dolin's narrative shows how the economic importance of furs and hides played a large role in determining Euro-American relations with American Indians and in shaping the course of empires for three centuries over what is now the United States and Canada.

509.2 U31 Genius of Britain: the scientists who changed the world by Robert Uhlig Over the last 500 years, life has been steadily transformed by the inventions of British scientists, and their landmark discoveries. This is the story of the flashes of inspiration experienced by generations of scientists as they realized they were about to change the world.

616.8588 S241 Atypical: life with Asperger's in 20 1/3 chapters by Jesse A. Saperstein The poignant, funny, and truly unique observations of a young writer diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.

641.5 O482a Jamie's America: easy twists on great American classics, and more by Jamie Oliver Jamie Oliver's homage to real American food is an eye-opening culinary tour, from campfire scrapple in cowboy country to Navajo green chili.

781.643 Q1 Cigar box banjo: notes on music and life by Paul Quarrington A musician and writer looks death in the face and reminisces about a life in song.

820.92 C555 An autobiography by Agatha Christie Agatha Christie's autobiography was published in 1977 a year after her death. Now this new edition comes complete with a CD containing newly discovered priceless recordings of Agatha dictating excerpts giving fans the opportunity to hear the Queen of Crime's story in her own words. Rediscover her remarkable full story in this special edition of her book, which is newly introduced by Mathew Prichard, the grandson who discovered the tapes.