Hot New Books


Week of August 16, 2010
F B2792m The map of true places by Brunonia Barry In this complex relationship drama, Zee Finch, a psychotherapist, has come home to Salem to take care of her ailing father and to try to figure out her own life after the suicide of one of her patients, an event which was made even more difficult by Zee's past--her mother committed suicide herself.

F B8796to Tough customer by Sandra Brown Entreated by his former lover, Caroline, to help protect her daughter from a depraved man who has been stalking her, staff investigator Dodge Hanley teams up with a small-town sheriff and enlists methods from his own shady past to find answers.

F B9932p Percival's planet by Michael Byers A tale inspired by the true story of Pluto's discoverer follows the interlinked stories of a wealthy heir seeking dinosaurs in the 1920s West, a beautiful girl gradually succumbing to mental illness, and Kansas farm boy.

F C771cu Cure by Robin Cook New York City medical examiner Laurie Montgomery faces the case of her career involving the suspected poisoning murder of a CIA agent and possible links a powerful pharmaceutical company and start-up stem-cell research labs.

F F735c The cobra by Frederick Forsyth Veteran Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal) and master of the political thriller weaves an intelligent tale about former director of CIA Special Operations Paul Devereaux, who is called back into action to take down the top drug cartels.

F G8512s Sea escape by Lynne Griffin Balancing her roles as a wife and mother with the responsibility of caring for a parent who is recovering from a stroke, Laura reads love letters exchanged by her parents during the 1950s, a correspondence that reveals unexpected truths.

F P499ic I curse the river of time by Per Petterson Anticipating a divorce against a backdrop of the fall of communism, Arvid Jansen is further dismayed by his mother's diagnosis with cancer, a situation that prompts his emotionally charged quest for understanding and balance. “A bleak but involving novel that will appeal to readers of character-driven literary fiction.”

F S6132m My Hollywood by Mona Simpson Struggling with her television writer husband's long hours and her own lack of childcare experience, composer and new mother Claire hires Lola, a Filipino mother of five seeking to finance her children's education back in the Philippines. “A hilarious and heartbreaking take on the real housewives of Southern California.”

F S6442t Three delays by Charlie Smith In this moody love story, Billy Brent and Alice Stephens are star-crossed lovers who seem destined never to find permanent happiness. After years of encounters and escapes, they lose themselves deep in a desert wilderness, searching for a way forward, only to learn that sometimes the trail simply forks.

F T487fo Foreign influence by Brad Thor In this taunt thriller, Scot Harvath, Navy SEAL turned counter-terrorist operative, finds himself embroiled in a life-or-death struggle against evil. As he braves grave dangers, he soon faces what could be the greatest test of his covert career.

M B268bu Burn by Nevada Barr Recovering from recent emotional trauma, National Park Service ranger Anna Pigeon goes to New Orleans to visit her friend, Geneva, only to become the target of a dark curse, prompting her to investigate what is has to do with a fugitive mother accused of killing her family.

M B659c Crime machine by Giles Blunt A year after the death of his wife, John Cardinal has fallen into an easy routine of work on cold case files. When the decapitated bodies of two people are found in a summer lake home Cardinal soon discovers this is by no means a routine murder investigation but a horrific piece of a very twisted puzzle.

M F375c City of veils by Zoe Ferraris After the body of a brutally beaten woman is found on a beach in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Detective Osama Ibrahim, along with the help of female coroner Katya and her friend Nayir, discovers that the victim was a controversial filmmaker and must discern who wanted her dead.

M G852v The vigilantes by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV Investigating a string of murders targeting criminals in Philadelphia, homicide Sergeant Matthew Payne becomes alarmed when unrelated vigilante groups begin taking credit for the hits, which become increasingly violent and high-profile.

M H1262w Wanting Sheila dead by Jane Haddam When an infamously offensive reality show personality is targeted by a thief who steals millions in jewelry from her home and leaves her unconscious beside the murdered body of a local girl, retired FBI agent Gregor Demarkian struggles to identify a culprit among numerous suspects.

303.49 B223 Bursts: the hidden pattern behind everything we do by Albert-László Barabási Bursts reveals where individual spontaneity ends and predictability in human behavior begins.

306.3 U55w What women want: the global marketplace turns female friendly by Paco Underhill The author of Why We Buy reports on the growing importance of women in everybody’s marketplace—what makes a package, product, space, or service female friendly.

327.73 B117 Washington rules: America's path to permanent war by Andrew J. Bacevich The bestselling author of The Limits of Power critically examines the Washington consensus on national security and why it must change.

332.6328 S836 The little book of commodity investing by John R. Stephenson In today's world, an understanding of commodities is a prerequisite for investment success. This indispensible guide teaches the ins and outs of commodity investing; what to buy and when to buy it; and why commodities are the next big thing.

338.2 H713 Why we hate the oil companies: straight talk from an energy insider by John Hofmeister The former president of Shell Oil Co. offers the view of an industry insider as he tackles the energy controversy head-on. He argues what Americans need to do to craft a successful energy strategy and has first hand knowledge of why past policies have failed to prepare for 21st Century challenges.

364.1523 C255 The murder room: the heirs of Sherlock Holmes gather to solve the world's most perplexing cold cases by Michael Capuzzo The Murder Room draws the reader into the secret investigations of the crime-fighting Vidocq Society. Ace detectives from around the world embark on a grand adventure for justice: to track down the killers in the toughest unsolved murders, working pro bono to solve cold cases.

641.5638 R377f Rose Reisman's family favorites by Rose Reisman Rose Reisman offers more than 270 recipes with a nutritional analysis of each, and guidance on improving your family's overall health with tips on everything from creating realistic exercise schedules to packing healthy and delicious school lunches.

781.64 S317 Talking to girls about Duran Duran : one young man's quest for true love and a cooler haircut by Rob Sheffield In this tuneful coming-of-age memoir, the glamorous New Wave band Duran Duran presides spiritually over the all-consuming teenage male efforts to comprehend the opposite sex.

791.4372 B828 Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the dawn of the modern woman by Sam Wasson In this meticulously researched book, Wasson presents Breakfast at Tiffany's through the eyes of those who made it. Written with style and considerable wit, Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. shines new light on a beloved film and its incomparable star, Audrey Hepburn.

791.44092 G666f Peter Gzowski: a biography by Rae Fleming This biography which captures the elusive and complex broadcaster, writer and reporter Peter Gzowski, is also a memoir of Canada during the last half of the twentieth century.

956.9405 S358 The Balfour Declaration: the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict by Jonathan Schneer A revelatory history of a document that laid the foundation stone of the state of Israel, the reverberations of which continue to be felt to this day.

956.9405 V217L The land of blood and honey: the rise of modern Israel by Martin van Creveld A definitive one-volume history of Israel by one of its most distinguished historians.