Skip to main content

Week of September 30, 2019

New in Paperback

Week of September 30, 2019

Paperback releases for the week of September 30th include THE NEXT PERSON YOU MEET IN HEAVEN, the enchanting sequel to THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN, in which Mitch Albom tells the story of Eddie’s heavenly reunion with Annie, the little girl he saved on earth; THE LIBRARY BOOK, Susan Orlean's unique and utterly compelling book that chronicles the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Public Library and its aftermath, showcasing the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; GONE SO LONG, Andre Dubus III's first novel in over a decade, a riveting family drama about an ex-con who did time for murder, the estranged daughter he hasn’t seen in 40 years, and the grandmother angry enough to kill him; THESE TRUTHS by Jill Lepore, a magisterial account of the origins and rise of a divided nation, an urgently needed reckoning with the beauty and tragedy of American history; and A WELL-BEHAVED WOMAN, Therese Anne Fowler’s intriguing novel of iron-willed Alva Vanderbilt and her illustrious family as they rule Gilded-Age New York.

The 18th Abduction by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro - Thriller

October 1, 2019

For a trio of colleagues, an innocent night out after class ends in a deadly torture session. They vanish without a clue --- until a body turns up. As the chief of police and the press clamor for an arrest in the "school night" case, Detective Lindsay Boxer turns to her best friend, investigative journalist Cindy Thomas. Lindsay and Cindy take a new approach to the case, and unexpected facts about the victims leave them stunned. While Lindsay is engrossed in her investigation, her husband, Joe Molinari, meets an Eastern European woman who claims to have seen a notorious war criminal --- long presumed dead --- from her home country. Before Lindsay can verify the woman's statement, Joe's mystery informant joins the ranks of the missing women.

The Bucket List by Georgia Clark - Fiction

October 1, 2019

Twenty-five-year-old Lacey Whitman is blindsided when she’s diagnosed with the BCRA1 gene mutation: the “breast cancer” gene. Her high hereditary risk forces a decision: increased surveillance or the more radical step of a preventative double mastectomy. Small-town Lacey is not so in touch with her sexuality: she doesn’t want to sacrifice her breasts before she’s had the chance to give them their heyday. To help her make her choice, she (and her friends) creates a “boob bucket list”: everything she wants do with and for her boobs before a possible surgery. This kicks off a year of sensual exploration and sexual entertainment for the quick-witted Lacey Whitman.

Dracul by Dacre Stoker and J. D. Barker - Supernatural Thriller/Gothic Horror

October 1, 2019

It is 1868, and a 21-year-old Bram Stoker waits in a desolate tower to face an indescribable evil. Armed only with crucifixes, holy water and a rifle, he prays to survive a single night. A sickly child, Bram spent his early days bedridden in his parents' Dublin home, tended to by his caretaker, a young woman named Ellen Crone. When a string of strange deaths occur in a nearby town, Bram and his sister Matilda detect a pattern of bizarre behavior by Ellen --- a mystery that deepens chillingly until Ellen vanishes suddenly from their lives. Years later, Matilda returns from studying in Paris to tell Bram the news that she has seen Ellen --- and that the nightmare they've thought long ended is only beginning.

Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown: The Making of an American Classic by Thomas Goldsmith - Music/Biography

September 30, 2019

Recorded in 1949, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" changed the face of American music. Earl Scruggs' instrumental essentially transformed the folk culture that came before it, while helping to energize bluegrass's entry into the mainstream in the 1960s. The song has become a gateway to bluegrass for musicians and fans alike, as well as a happily inescapable track in film and television. Thomas Goldsmith explores the origins and influence of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" against the backdrop of Scruggs' legendary career. Interviews with Scruggs, his wife Louise, disciple Béla Fleck, and sidemen like Curly Seckler, Mac Wiseman and Jerry Douglas shed light on such topics as Scruggs' musical evolution and his working relationship with Bill Monroe.

The Familiars by Stacey Halls - Historical Fiction

October 1, 2019

Fleetwood Shuttleworth, the mistress of Pendle Hill’s Gawthorpe Hall, is with child. Anxious to produce an heir, she is distraught to find a letter from her physician that warns her husband she will not survive this pregnancy. Devastated, Fleetwood wanders the estate grounds, where she catches a young woman poaching. Alice Gray claims she is a local midwife and promises to help Fleetwood deliver a healthy baby. But a witch-obsessed frenzy sweeps the countryside. Even woodland creatures, or “familiars,” are thought to be dark companions of the unholy. And Alice soon stands accused of witchcraft. Time is running out. The witch trials are about to begin. With both their lives at stake, Fleetwood must prove Alice’s innocence. Only they know the truth.

The First Lady and the Rebel by Susan Higginbotham - Historical Fiction

October 1, 2019

As the Civil War cracks the country in two, Mary Lincoln stands beside her husband praying for a swift Northern victory. But as the body count rises, Mary can't help but fear each bloody gain. Because her beloved sister Emily is across party lines, fighting for the South, and Mary is at risk of losing both her country and her family in the tides of a brutal war. Emily Todd Helm has married the love of her life. But when her husband's southern ties pull them into a war neither want to join, she must make a choice: abandon the family she has built in the South, or fight against the sister she has always loved best. With a country's legacy at stake, how will two sisters shape history?

The Fox by Frederick Forsyth - Thriller

October 1, 2019

Adrian Weston, former chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service, is awoken in the middle of the night by a phone call from the Prime Minister. The Pentagon, the NSA and the CIA have been hacked simultaneously, their seemingly impenetrable firewalls breached by an unknown enemy known only as "The Fox." Even more surprisingly, the culprit is revealed to be a young British teenager, Luke Jennings. Extradition to the U.S. seems likely --- until Weston has another idea: If Luke can do this to us, what can he do to our enemies? After conferring with both the American President and the Prime Minister, Weston is determined to use "The Fox" and his talents to the advantage of the two nations. But doing so places the boy on a geopolitical minefield.

Gone So Long by Andre Dubus III - Fiction

October 1, 2019

Daniel Ahearn lives a quiet, solitary existence in a seaside New England town. Forty years ago, following a shocking act of impulsive violence on his part, his daughter, Susan, was ripped from his arms by police. Now in her 40s, Susan still suffers from the trauma of a night she doesn’t remember, as she struggles to feel settled, to love a man and create something that lasts. Lois, her maternal grandmother who raised her, tries to find peace in her antique shop in a quaint Florida town but cannot escape her own anger, bitterness and fear.

Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants by H. W. Brands - History

October 1, 2019

In the early 1800s, three young men strode onto the national stage, elected to Congress at a moment when the Founding Fathers were beginning to retire to their farms. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, a champion orator known for his eloquence, spoke for the North and its business class. Henry Clay of Kentucky, as dashing as he was ambitious, embodied the hopes of the rising West. South Carolina's John Calhoun, with piercing eyes and an even more piercing intellect, defended the South and slavery. Together these heirs of Washington, Jefferson and Adams took the country to war, battled one another for the presidency and set themselves the task of finishing the work the Founders had left undone.

I Will Never See the World Again: The Memoir of an Imprisoned Writer written by Ahmet Altan, translated by Yasemin Çongar - Memoir

October 1, 2019

Confined in a cell four meters long, imprisoned on absurd, Kafkaesque charges, novelist Ahmet Altan is one of many writers persecuted by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s oppressive regime. In I WILL NEVER SEE THE WORLD AGAIN, written from his prison cell, Altan reflects upon his sentence, on a life whittled down to a courtyard covered by bars, and on the hope and solace a writer’s mind can provide, even in the darkest places.

Killing Commendatore written by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen - Fiction

October 1, 2019

A thirty-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a previously unseen painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious 13-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna, a pit in the woods behind the artist’s home, and an underworld haunted by Double Metaphors.

The Library Book by Susan Orlean - Social History

October 16, 2018

On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual false alarm. The fire was disastrous: It reached 2,000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 more. Investigators descended on the scene, but over 30 years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library --- and if so, who? Award-winning journalist Susan Orlean investigates this legendary fire to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives.

The Library of the Unwritten: A Novel from Hell's Library by A. J. Hackwith - Fantasy

October 1, 2019

Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing --- a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto. But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil's Bible. So it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell...and Earth.

The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston - Historical Fiction

October 1, 2019

Xanthe and her mother, Flora, take over an antique shop in the historic town of Marlborough. Xanthe has always had an affinity with some of the antiques she finds. When she touches them, she can sense something of the past they come from and the stories they hold. It is while she’s examining a beautiful silver chatelainem that she’s transported back to the 17th century and discovers there is an injustice in its history. The spirit that inhabits her new home charges her with saving her daughter’s life, threatening to take Flora’s if she fails. While Xanthe fights to save the girl, she meets architect Samuel Appleby. He may be the person who can help her succeed. He may also be the reason she can’t bring herself to leave.

Looker by Laura Sims - Psychological Thriller

October 1, 2019

Though the two women live just a few doors apart, a chasm lies between them. The actress, a celebrity with a charmed career, shares a gleaming brownstone with her handsome husband and three adorable children, while the recently separated narrator, unhappily childless and stuck in a dead-end job, lives in a run-down, three-story walk-up with her ex-husband’s cat. As her fascination grows, the narrator’s hold on reality begins to slip. Before long, she’s collecting cast-off items from the actress’s stoop and fantasizing about sleeping with the actress’s husband. After a disastrous interaction with the actress at the annual block party, what began as an innocent preoccupation turns into a stunning --- and irrevocable --- unraveling.

The Lying Room by Nicci French - Psychological Thriller

October 1, 2019

When Neve Connolly pays a morning-after visit to her lover, Saul, and finds him brutally murdered, all the lies she has so painstakingly stitched together threaten to unravel. After scrubbing clean every trace of her existence from Saul’s life --- and death --- Neve believes she can return to normal, shaken but intact. But she can’t get out of her head the one tormenting question: What was she forgetting? An investigation into the slaying could provide the answer. It’s brought Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Hitching, and Neve’s worst fears, to her door. But with every new lie, every new misdirection to save herself, Neve descends further into the darkness of her betrayal --- and into more danger than she ever imagined.

Melmoth by Sarah Perry - Gothic Thriller

October 1, 2019

It has been years since Helen Franklin left England. In Prague, working as a translator, she has found a home of sorts --- or, at least, refuge. That changes when her friend Karel discovers a mysterious letter in the library, a strange confession and a curious warning that speaks of Melmoth the Witness, a dark legend found in obscure fairy tales and antique village lore. As such superstition has it, Melmoth travels through the ages, dooming those she persuades to join her to a damnation of timeless, itinerant solitude. To Helen, it all seems the stuff of unenlightened fantasy. But, unaware, as she wanders the cobblestone streets, Helen is being watched. And then Karel disappears.

The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom - Fiction

October 1, 2019

The accident that killed Eddie in THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN left an indelible mark on Annie, the young girl whose life he saved. Injured, scarred and unable to remember why, Annie’s life is forever changed by a guilt-ravaged mother who whisks her away from the world she knew. When, as a young woman, she reconnects with Paulo, her childhood love, she believes she has finally found happiness. As the novel opens, Annie is marrying Paulo. But when her wedding night ends in an unimaginable accident, Annie finds herself on her own heavenly journey --- and an inevitable reunion with Eddie, one of the five people who will show her how her life mattered in ways she could not have fathomed.

One Fatal Mistake by Tom Hunt - Thriller

October 1, 2019

When 18-year-old Joshua Mayo takes a man's life in a terrible accident, he leaves the scene without reporting the crime to the police. He hopes to put the awful night behind him and move on with his life. But, of course, he ends up telling his mother, Karen, what happened. Karen has raised Joshua on her own in Cedar Rapids, Iowa --- and she'd thought they'd finally made it. He was doing well in school and was only months away from starting college at his dream school. After hearing his dark confession, she's forced to make a choice no parent should have to make. A choice that draws them both into a web of deceit that will change their lives forever --- if they can make it out alive.

One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski - Mystery

October 1, 2019

One sultry summer, Maureen Haddaway arrives in the wealthy town of Opal Beach to start her life anew. There, she finds herself lured by the promise of friendship, love, starry skies and wild parties. But Maureen’s new life just might be too good to be true, and before the summer is up, she vanishes. Decades later, when Allison Simpson is offered the opportunity to house-sit in Opal Beach during the off-season, it seems like the perfect chance to begin fresh after a messy divorce. But when she becomes drawn into the mysterious disappearance of a girl 30 years before, Allison realizes the gorgeous homes of Opal Beach hide dark secrets. And the truth of that long-ago summer is not even the most shocking part of all.

Paris in the Dark: A Christopher Marlowe Cobb Thriller by Robert Olen Butler - Historical Thriller

October 1, 2019

World War I is raging across Europe, but Woodrow Wilson has kept Americans out of the trenches --- though that hasn’t stopped young men and women from crossing the Atlantic to volunteer at the front. Christopher “Kit” Cobb, a Chicago reporter with a second job as undercover agent for the U.S. government, is officially in Paris doing a story on American ambulance drivers, but his intelligence handler, James Polk Trask, soon broadens his mission. City-dwelling civilians are meeting death by dynamite in a new string of bombings, and the German-speaking Kit seems just the man to figure out who is behind them. But there are elements in this pursuit that will test Kit to the very limits of his principles, wits and talents for survival.

Reagan: An American Journey by Bob Spitz - Biography

October 1, 2019

Bob Spitz's REAGAN is a richly detailed chronicle of the full arc of Ronald Reagan's epic life --- giving full weight to the Hollywood years, his transition to politics, and his rocky but ultimately successful run as California governor. His iconic presidency, from Iran-Contra to "Tear down this wall!" to an assassination attempt, receives a balanced reckoning in the form of an absorbing, even revelatory narrative.

Ribbons of Scarlet: A Novel of the French Revolution's Women by Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, Sophie Perinot, Heather Webb, and Eliza Knight - Historical Fiction

October 1, 2019

Six bestselling and award-winning authors --- Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, Sophie Perinot, Heather Webb and E. Knight --- bring to life a breathtaking epic novel illuminating the hopes, desires and destinies of princesses and peasants, harlots and wives, fanatics and philosophers. Here are seven unforgettable women whose paths cross during one of the most tumultuous and transformative events in history: the French Revolution.

She Lies in Wait by Gytha Lodge - Psychological Thriller

October 1, 2019

On a scorching July night in 1983, a group of teenagers goes camping in the forest. When they wake in the morning, the youngest of their group, Aurora Jackson, has disappeared. An exhaustive investigation is launched, but no trace of the teenager is ever found. Thirty years later, Aurora’s body is unearthed in a hideaway that only the six friends knew about, and Jonah Sheens is put in charge of solving the long-cold case. His investigation brings the members of the camping party back to the forest, where they will be confronted once again with the events that left one of them dead and all of them profoundly changed forever.

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths - Gothic Mystery/Thriller

October 1, 2019

Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. A high school English teacher specializing in the Gothic writer R. M. Holland, she teaches a course on it every year. But when one of Clare’s colleagues and closest friends is found dead, with a line from Holland’s most famous story, “The Stranger,” left by her body, Clare is horrified to see her life collide with the storylines of her favorite literature. To make matters worse, the police suspect the killer is someone Clare knows. Unsure whom to trust, she turns to her closest confidant: her diary. Then one day she notices writing that isn't hers, left on the page of an old diary: Hallo Clare. You don’t know me. “The Stranger” has come to terrifying life. But can the ending be rewritten in time?

There Will Be No Miracles Here: A Memoir by Casey Gerald - Memoir

October 1, 2019

Casey Gerald's story begins at the end of the world: Dallas, New Year's Eve 1999, when he gathers with the congregation of his grandfather's black evangelical church to see which of them will be carried off. His beautiful, fragile mother disappears frequently and mysteriously; for a brief idyll, he and his sister live like Boxcar Children on her disability checks. When Casey --- following in the footsteps of his father, a gridiron legend --- is recruited to play football at Yale, he enters a world he's never dreamed of. But even as he attains the inner sanctums of power, Casey sees how the world crushes those who live at its margins. He sees how the elite perpetuate the salvation stories that keep others from rising. And he sees, most painfully, how his own ascension is part of the scheme.

These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore - History

October 1, 2019

The American experiment rests on three ideas --- "these truths," Jefferson called them --- political equality, natural rights and the sovereignty of the people. And it rests, too, on a fearless dedication to inquiry, Jill Lepore argues, because self-government depends on it. But has the nation, and democracy itself, delivered on that promise? THESE TRUTHS tells this uniquely American story, beginning in 1492, asking whether the course of events over more than five centuries has proven the nation’s truths, or belied them. To answer that question, Lepore traces the intertwined histories of American politics, law, journalism and technology.

The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith - Historical Fantasy

October 1, 2019

For centuries, the vineyards at Château Renard have depended on the talent of their vine witches, whose spells help create the world-renowned wine of the Chanceaux Valley. Then the skill of divining harvests fell into ruin when sorcière Elena Boureanu was blindsided by a curse. Now, after breaking the spell that confined her to the shallows of a marshland and weakened her magic, Elena is struggling to return to her former life. And the vineyard she was destined to inherit is now in the possession of a handsome stranger, vigneron Jean-Paul Martel. Elena won’t rest until she can defy the evil powers that are still a threat to herself, Jean-Paul, and the ancient vine-witch legacy in the rolling hills of the Chanceaux Valley.

War of the Wolf by Bernard Cornwell - Historical Fiction

October 1, 2019

While Uhtred of Bebbanburg might have regained his family’s fortress, it seems that a peaceful life is not to be --- as he is under threat from both an old enemy and a new foe. The old enemy comes from Wessex, where a dynastic struggle will determine who will be the next king. And the new foe is Sköll, a Norseman, whose ambition is to be King of Northumbria and who leads a frightening army of wolf-warriors, men who fight half-crazed in the belief that they are indeed wolves. Uhtred, believing he is cursed, must fend off one enemy while he tries to destroy the other. In this new chapter of the Saxon Tales series, Uhtred returns to fight once again for the destiny of England.

A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts by Therese Anne Fowler - Historical Fiction

October 1, 2019

Alva Smith, her southern family destitute after the Civil War, married into one of America’s great Gilded Age dynasties: the newly wealthy but socially shunned Vanderbilts. Ignored by New York’s old-money circles and determined to win respect, she designed and built nine mansions, hosted grand balls and arranged for her daughter to marry a duke. But Alva also defied convention for women of her time, asserting power within her marriage and becoming a leader in the women's suffrage movement.

Where She Went by Kelly Simmons - Psychological Thriller/Mystery

October 1, 2019

Her only daughter has just gone away to college, and Maggie O'Farrell knows she's turning into one of those helicopter parents she used to mock. Worrying constantly, texting more than she should, even occasionally dropping by the campus "just to say hi." But Maggie can't shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen to Emma. And then, just as Maggie starts to relax, her daughter disappears. The clues are disturbing. An empty dorm room where Emma was supposedly living. A mysterious boy described as Future Husband in her phone. Dormmates who seem more sinister than friendly. As Maggie combs over the campus looking for signs of her daughter, she learns more about Emma's life than she ever thought possible.

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden - Historical Fantasy

October 1, 2019

Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers --- and for someone to blame. Vasilisa Petrovna finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. A wicked demon returns, stronger than ever and determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict is Vasya, who finds the fate of two worlds resting on her shoulders. Her destiny uncertain, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself and her history as she desperately tries to save Russia, the winter-king Morozko and the magical world she treasures. But she may not be able to save them all.

The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag - Historical Thriller

October 1, 2019

One morning in the autumn of 1793, watchman Mikel Cardell is awakened from his drunken slumber with reports of a body seen floating in the Larder, once a pristine lake on Stockholm’s Southern Isle, now a rancid bog. Efforts to identify the bizarrely mutilated corpse are entrusted to incorruptible lawyer Cecil Winge, who enlists Cardell’s help to solve the case. But time is short: Winge’s health is failing, the monarchy is in shambles, and whispered conspiracies and paranoia abound. Winge and Cardell become immersed in a brutal world of guttersnipes and thieves, mercenaries and madams.