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FICTIONApeirogon: A Novel by Colum McCann, "Bassam Aramin is Palestinian. Rami Elhanan is Israeli. They inhabit a world of intractable conflict that colors every aspect of their daily lives, from the roads they are allowed to take to the schools their daughters, Abir and Smadar, each attend. Theirs is a life in which children from both sides of the wall throw stones at one another. But their worlds shift irreparably when ten-year-old old Abir is killed by a rubber bullet meant to quell unruly crowds, and again when thirteen-year-old Smadar becomes the victim of suicide bombers. When Bassam and Rami learn one another's stories and the loss that connects them, they become part of a much larger tale that ranges over centuries and continents. Apeirogon is a novel that balances on the knife edge of fiction and nonfiction. Bassam and Rami are real men and their actual words are a part of this narrative, one that builds through thousands of moments and images into one grand, unforgettable crescendo"—Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner, Lisa. A propulsive thriller featuring an ordinary woman who will stop at nothing to find the missing people that the rest of the world has forgotten.Black Widows by Cate Quinn""I had the right husband-and the wrong wives." -One of Blake Nelson's widows The Dry meets The Handmaid's Tale in this fascinating story of wife and death. Against the wishes of his family and the laws of the elders of the Mormon church, Blake Nelson has adopted the old polygamous ways and lives alone with his three wives, miles from anywhere, in rural Utah. Blake and his wives kept to themselves-and kept most folks out. That is, until his dead body is discovered. Black Widows is told in the three voices of Blake's very different wives, who hate each other, and who sometimes hated their husband. Blake's dead. Did his wife kill him? And if so, which one?"--Bone Canyon by Lee Goldberg. A cold case heats up, revealing a deadly conspiracy in a twisty thriller by #1 ?New York Times -bestselling author Goldberg. A catastrophic wildfire scorches the Santa Monica Mountains, exposing the charred remains of a woman who disappeared years ago. The investigation is assigned to Eve Ronin, the youngest homicide detective in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The Breaker by Nick Petrie Peter Ash tangles with dangerous enemies and terrifying technology in the newest thrille.The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker. The second installment in the delightful, internationally acclaimed series featuring Bruno, Chief of PoliceThe Dazzling Truth by Helen Cullen. When tragedy strikes at a time of celebration, a family comes together and addresses secrets from their past that may lead them toward an unpredictable future.Dear Miss Kopp (#6 Kopp sisters) by Amy Stewart. The indomitable Kopp sisters are tested at home and abroad in this warm and witty tale of wartime courage and camaraderie. Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson. "Delightfully witty dialogue is engaging... our heroine operates slightly outside the expectations of a "genteel" lady of her time. And unlike many romances which drag the characters through conflict, prolonging their joy until the finale, this refreshingly straightforward tale provides tender interludes throughout. This debut novel captures all the charm of the Regency period -- while offering plenty of romance for readers who crave a bit more than the tight-lipped love scenes written by 19th century writers."The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty. The third entry in the Daevabad Trilogy: A "historical fantasy in which a young con artist in eighteenth century Cairo discovers she's the last descendant of a powerful family of djinn healers. With the help of an outcast immortal warrior and a rebellious prince, she must claim her magical birthright in order to prevent a war that threatens to destroy the entire djinn kingdom"-The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline. "Seduced by her employer's son, Evangeline, a native ol young governess in early nineteenth-century London, is discharged when her pregnancy is discovered and sent to the notorious Newgate Prison. After months in the fetid, overcrowded jail, she learns she is sentenced to 'the land beyond the seas, ' Van Diemen's Land, a penal colony in Australia. Though uncertain of what awaits, Evangeline knows one thing: the child she carries will be born on the months-long voyage to this distant land. During the journey on a repurposed slave ship, the Medea, Evangeline strikes up a friendship with Hazel, a girl little older than her former pupils who was sentenced to seven years transport for stealing a silver spoon. Canny where Evangeline is guileless, Hazel--a skilled midwife and herbalist--is soon offering home remedies to both prisoners and sailors in return for a variety of favors"--The Faberge Secret by Charles Belfoure. ?St Petersburg, 1903. ?Prince Dimitri Markhov lives a life of luxury in the Imperial court, while middle-class Doctor Katya Golitsyn is determined to help bring revolution. When they meet at a royal ball and begin an affair, Katya exposes Dimitri to the horrors of the Tsar's regime, and Dimitri grows determined to make a stand ... whatever the cost.Fortune and Glory by Janet Evanovich (#27 Stephanie Plum) Fragments of Light by Michele Phoenix. From D-Day to present-day, two lives are irrevocably changed by the decision to chase brave or to run away from it.The Girls with No Names by Serena Burdick. Growing up in New York City in the 1910s, Luella and Effie Tildon realize that even as wealthy young women, their freedoms come with limits. But when the sisters discover a shocking secret about their father, Luella, the brazen older sister, becomes emboldened to do as she pleases. Her rebellion comes with consequences, and one morening Luella is mysteriously gone. Effie suspects her father has sent Luella to the House of Mercy and hatches a plan to get herself committed to save her sister. But she made a miscalculation, and with no one to believe her story, Effie's own escape seems impossible--unless she can trust an enigmatic girl named Mable. As their fates entwine, Mable and Effie must rely on their tenuous friendship to survive.Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar. A deeply personal work about identity and belonging in a nation coming apart at the seams, Homeland Elegies blends fact and fiction to tell an epic story of longing and dispossession in the world that 9/11 made. Part family drama, part social essay, part picaresque novel, at its heart it is the story of a father, a son, and the country they both call home.Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam "A ... novel about two families--strangers to each other--who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong"--The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs. Natalie Harper feels she must sell the bookshop she's inherited to pay for her grandfather's care, but he refuses to acquiesce, and renovation of the store and its studio apartment push her life in a whole new direction. Besides, she loves the store and its books provide welcome solace for her overwhelming grief. After she moves into the small studio apartment above the shop, Natalie carries out her grandfather's request and hires contractor Peach Gallagher to do the necessary and ongoing repairs. His young daughter, Dorothy, also becomes a regular at the store, and she and Natalie begin reading together while Peach works.Memorial by Bryan Washington Japanese-American chef Mike and Black daycare teacher Benson begin reevaluating their stale relationship after Mike departs for Japan to visit his dying father and Benson is suddenly stuck with his visiting mother-in-law, who becomes an unconventional roommate.The Midnight Library by Matt Haig "While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? In [this novel], Nora Seed finds herself faced ... with the possibility of changing her life for a new one: following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist. She must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place"-Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy Franny Stone has always been the kind of woman who is able to love but unable to stay. Leaving behind everything but her research gear, she arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. Franny talks her way onto a fishing boat, and she and the crew set sail, traveling ever further from shore and safety. But as Franny's history begins to unspool--a passionate love affair, an absent family, a devastating crime--it becomes clear that she is chasing more than just the birds. When Franny's dark secrets catch up with her, how much is she willing to risk for one more chance at redemption?Of Mutts and Men by Spencer Quinn. Spencer Quinn speaks two languages--suspense and dog--fluently. Sometimes funny, sometimes touching, and in a few places terrifying ... enchanting [and]one-of-a-kind." --Stephen KingOne Night Two Souls Went Walking by Ellen Cooney A young interfaith chaplain is joined on her hospital rounds one night by an unusual companion: a rough-and-ready dog who may or may not be a ghost. As she tends to the souls of her patients--young and old, living last moments or navigating fundamentally altered lives--their stories provide unexpected healing for her own heartbreak. Balancing wonder and mystery with pragmatism and humor, Ellen Cooney (A Mountaintop School for Dogs and Other Second Chances) returns to Coffee House Press with a generous, intelligent novel that grants the most challenging moments of the human experience a shimmer of light and magical possibility.One by One by Ruth Ware "The ... author of The Turn of the Key and In a Dark Dark Wood returns with another suspenseful thriller set on a snow-covered mountain"Over Her Dead Body by Kate White. White, the editor-in-chief for "Cosmopolitan," delivers a sizzling-hot mystery that takes readers inside the cutthroat world of celebrity magazines. Sharper than a stiletto heel, funnier than a bad dye job.--"Publishers Weekly," starred review.Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline "A 1980s cultural assessment of the fantastical future of online behavior continues the story that began in the internationally best-selling futuristic novel, Ready Player One, that inspired a blockbuster Steven Spielberg film"Rhythm of War: Book Four of the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage, and the threat of a betrayal by Dalinar's crafty ally Taravangian looms over every strategic move.So Pretty It Hurts by Kate White. True-crime journalist and sassy amateur sleuth Bailey Weggins has scarcely begun her hard-earned weekend getaway when something comes up: a dead body, belonging to one of the world's most glamorous supermodels.The Split by Sharon Bolton. "No matter how far you run, some secrets will always catch up with you... The remote Antarctic island of South Georgia is about to send off its last boat of the summer - which signifies safety to resident glaciologist Felicity Lloyd. Felicity lives in fear - fear that her ex-husband Freddie will find her, even out here. She took a job on this isolated island to hide from him, but now that he's out of prison, having served a term for murder, she knows he won't give up until he finds her. But a doctor delving into the background of Felicity and Freddie's relationship, back in Cambridge, learns that Felicity has been on the edge for a long time. Heading to South Georgia himself to try and get to her first is the only way he can think of to help her. Tense, gripping and with a twist you won't see coming, Sharon Bolton is back in an explosive new standalone thriller about a woman on the run"This Won't End Well by Camille Pagon No new people: that's Annie Mercer's vow. It's bad enough that her boss sabotaged her chemistry career and her best friend tried to cure her with crystals. But after her fiancé, Jon, asks for space while he's gallivanting around Paris, Annie decides she needs space too--from everyone. Yet when Harper moves in next door, Annie can't help but train a watchful eye on the glamorous but fragile young woman. And if keeping Harper safe requires teaming up with Mo, a maddeningly optimistic amateur detective, who is she to mind her own business?The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. "In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it's too late?" Universe of Two by Stephen P. Keirnan. "Graduating from Harvard at the height of World War II, brilliant mathematician Charlie Fish is assigned to the Manhattan Project. Working with some of the age's greatest scientific minds, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Leo Szilard, Charlie is assigned the task of designing and building the detonator of the atomic bomb. As he performs that work Charlie suffers a crisis of conscience, which his wife, Brenda--unaware of the true nature of Charlie's top-secret task--mistakes as self-doubt. She urges him to set aside his qualms and continue. Once the bombs strike Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the feelings of culpability devastate him and Brenda. At the war's end, Charlie receives a scholarship to pursue a PhD in physics at Stanford--an opportunity he and Brenda hope will allow them a fresh start. But the past proves inescapable. All any of his new colleagues can talk about is the bomb, and what greater atomic weapons might be on the horizon. Haunted by guilt, Charlie and Brenda leave Stanford and decide to dedicate the rest of their lives to making amends for the evil he helped to birth into the world"War Lord by Bernard Cornwell "The final installment in Bernard Cornwell's bestselling Saxon Tales series, chronicling the epic story of the making of England ... England is under attack. Chaos reigns. Northumbria, the last kingdom, is threatened by armies from all sides, by land and sea, and only one man stands in their way. Torn between loyalty and sworn oaths, the warrior king Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg faces his greatest ever battle--and prepares for his ultimate fate"--Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon. "The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both. But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John's heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together. When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi's family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can't turn back, they can't go on, and they can't let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually...make peace with who they are."The Year of Necessary Lies by Kris Radish. A great-granddaughter discovers her ancestor's secrets--inspirational forays into forbidden love and the Florida Everglades at the turn of the last century.NON-FICTIONBarnstorming Ohio: To Understand America by David Giffels: "For how so much of the modern political discourse paints Ohio as a state of flux in election years, and a monolith every other time, I'm thankful for the gentle and generous touch of David Giffels. In this book, he writes the nuances of the state and its people with incredible warmth and immense insight. He does justice to the many tensions and affections that rumble through the state, always. These are uncertain years, with more uncertain years promised to follow. I am thankful for the familiar (and sometimes uncomfortable) clarities this book offers."The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les Payne and Tamara Payne. An epic biography of Malcolm X finally emerges, drawing on hundreds of hours of the author's interviews, rewriting much of the known narrative. (Best Books of Fall 2020) A Game of Birds and Wolves: The Ingenious Young Women Whose Secret Board Game Helped Win World War II by Simon Parkin. By 1941, Winston Churchill had come to believe that the outcome of World War II rested on the battle for the Atlantic. A grand strategy game was devised by Captain Gilbert Roberts and a group of ten Wrens (members of the Women's Royal Naval Service) assigned to his team in an attempt to reveal the tactics behind the vicious success of the German U-boats. Played on a linoleum floor divided into painted squares, it required model ships to be moved across a make-believe ocean in a manner reminiscent of the childhood game, Battleship. Through play, the designers developed "Operation Raspberry," a counter-maneuver that helped turn the tide of World War II. Guys Like Me: Five Wars, Five Veterans for Peace by Michael Messner.?Guys Like Me ?introduces us to five ordinary veterans from different generations who have done extraordinary work as peace activists. Michael A. Messner reveals how the horror and trauma of the battlefront motivated onetime warriors to reconcile with former enemies, crusade for justice, and heal themselves and others. ?Having and Being Had by Eula Biss. "Having just purchased her first home, the author embarks on a self-audit of the value system she has bought into. The essays in this volume offer an interrogation of work, leisure, and the lived experience of capitalism"--Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker "Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where [they had twelve chidlren] ... In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins, ... and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: ... by the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after the other, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family? What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institutes of Mental Health?"— High-Octane Brain: 5 Science-Based Steps to Sharpen Your Memory and Reduce Your Risk of Alzheimer's by Michelle Braun. Board-certified neuropsychologist Dr. Michelle Braun helps readers understand the truth about brain health--and provides a plan for strengthening the five features of the High-Octane Brain: nutrition, exercise, sleep, reduced stress, and increased engagement. Readers can take a quiz to evaluate where they stand on the High-Octane Brain spectrum, develop a personalized program, and use a tracking system to check their progress. Packed with tips on minimizing common "brain blips," memory exercises to grow neuronal connections, and personal accounts, this groundbreaking book finally puts the future of your brain in your control.If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future by Jill Lepore. ?Longlisted - ?Financial Times ?& McKinsey Business Book of the Year ?A revelatory account of the Cold War origins of the data-mad, algorithmic twenty-first century, from the author of the acclaimed international bestseller ?These Truths. Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf. On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard gunned down unarmed college students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University. In a deadly barrage of 67 shots, 4 students were killed and 9 shot and wounded. It was the day America turned guns on its own children - a shocking event burned into our national memory. A few days prior, 10-year-old Derf Backderf saw those same Guardsmen patrolling his nearby hometown, sent in by the governor to crush a trucker strike. Using the journalism skills he employed on 'My Friend Dahmer' and 'Trashed', Backderf has conducted extensive interviews and research to explore the lives of these four young people and the events of those four days in May, when the country seemed on the brink of tearing apart. 'Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio', which will be published in time for the 50th anniversary of the tragedy, is a moving and troubling story about the bitter price of dissent-as relevant today as it was in 1970.Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World by Simon Winchester. The author explores the notion of property--man's proprietary relationship with the land--through human history, how it has shaped people, and what it will mean for the future.Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion. Twelve early pieces never before collected offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of the bestselling author.Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten. The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism by Thomas Frank. Rarely does a work of history contain startling implications for the present, but in The People, No Thomas Frank pulls off that explosive effect by showing us that everything we think we know about populism is wrong. Today "populism" is seen as a frightening thing, a term pundits use to describe the racist philosophy of Donald Trump and European extremists. But this is a mistake.Spirit of Place: The Making of a New England Garden by Bill Noble. ?An intimate and revealing profile of Bill Noble's outstanding New England garden--and the regional history and traditions that shaped it. Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria. ?New York Times ?Bestseller ?COVID-19 is speeding up history, but how? What is the shape of the world to come?Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn. "This is an unflinching book that illustrates the central, confounding American paradox--in a country that purports to root for the underdog, too often we exalt the rich and we punish the poor. With thorough reporting and extraordinary compassion, Kristof and WuDunn tell the stories of those who fall behind in the world's wealthiest country, and find not an efficient first-world safety net created by their government, but a patchwork of community initiatives, perpetually underfunded and run by tired saints. And yet amid all the tragedy and neglect, Kristof and WuDunn conjure a picture of how it could all get better, how it could all work. That's the miracle of Tightrope, and why this is such an indispensable book."The Violence Inside Us: A Brief History of an Ongoing American Tragedy by Chris Murphy. In many ways, the United States sets the pace for other nations to follow. Yet on the most important human concern--the need to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe from physical harm--America isn't a leader. We are disturbingly laggard. Our churches and schools, our movie theaters and dance clubs, our workplaces and neighborhoods, no longer feel safe. To confront this problem, we must first understand it. In this carefully researched and deeply emotional book, Senator Chris Murphy dissects our country's violence-filled history and the role that our unique obsession with firearms plays in this national epidemic.When Truth Is All You Have: A Memoir of Faith, Justice, and Freedom for the Wrongly Convicted by Jim McCloskey and Philip Lerman, with Foreward by John Grisham. "Jim McCloskey was at a midlife crossroads when he met the man who would transform his life. A former management consultant, McCloskey had grown disenchanted with the business world; he enrolled at Princeton Theological Seminary at the age of 37. His first assignment found him a chaplain at Trenton State Prison in 1980, where he ministered to some of the most violent offenders in the state. Among them was Jorge de los Santos, a heroin addict who'd been convicted of murder years earlier. De los Santos swore to McCloskey that he was innocent--and over time, McCloskey came to believe him. With no legal or investigative training to speak of, McCloskey threw himself into the man's case." ................
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