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Week of February 6, 2017

New in Paperback

Week of February 6, 2017

Paperback releases for the week of February 6th include A MOTHER'S RECKONING, the acclaimed national bestseller by Sue Klebold about living in the aftermath of Columbine as she tries to come to terms with the incomprehensible; IN OTHER WORDS, Jhumpa Lahiri’s meditation on the process of learning to express herself in another language; BRITT-MARIE WAS HERE, Fredrick Backman's novel that celebrates the unexpected friendships that change us forever, and the power of even the gentlest of spirits to make the world a better place; and ALL THINGS CEASE TO APPEAR by Elizabeth Brundage, which combines noir and the gothic in a story about two families entwined in their own unhappiness, with, at its heart, a gruesome and unsolved murder.

All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage - Psychological Thriller/Mystery

February 7, 2017


Late one winter afternoon in the small town of Chosen, New York, professor George Clare knocks on his neighbor’s door with terrible news: he returned from work to find his wife, Catherine, murdered in their bed. Once a thriving dairy farm, their home is haunted by the tragedy that left the former owner’s three sons orphaned and adrift. As one dark secret peels away to reveal others --- and as the Clare marriage reveals itself to have a sinister darkness that rivals the farm’s history --- Elizabeth Brundage offers a rich and complex portrait of the scars that can haunt a community for generations and the dark longings inside each and every one of us that drive us to do inexplicable things.

The Arrangement by Ashley Warlick - Historical Fiction

February 7, 2017


Los Angeles, 1934. Mary Frances is young, restlessly married, and returning from her first sojourn in France. She is hungry, and not just for food: she wants Tim, her husband Al’s charming friend, who encourages her writing and seems to understand her better than anyone. After a night’s transgression, it’s only a matter of time before Mary Frances claims what she truly desires, plunging all three of them into a tangled triangle of affection that will have far-reaching effects on their families, their careers and their lives.

The Bed Moved: Stories by Rebecca Schiff - Fiction/Short Stories

February 7, 2017


A New Yorker endures a romantic getaway with a cash-strapped pot grower to a “clothing optional resort” in California; a nerdy high-schooler has her first sexual experience at Geology Camp; an unemployed college grad returns to her childhood home after her father’s funeral and encounters a surprise in his browser history. With bone-dry humor and unexpected tenderness, Rebecca Schiff’s stories offer a singular view of growing up (or not) and finding love (or not) in today’s ever-uncertain landscape. THE BED MOVED is a wry and irreverent take on the human connections --- no matter how fleeting --- that make us who we are.

A Bed of Scorpions by Judith Flanders - Mystery

February 7, 2017


Book editor Samantha Clair learns that the partner of her art-dealer friend, Aidan Merriam, has just been found dead in their gallery, slumped over his desk with a gun in his hand. The police investigation is being led by Inspector Jake Field, who just happens to be Sam's new boyfriend. And Aidan, who just happens to be Sam's ex-boyfriend, wants Sam's help. Finding herself drawn into another investigation, Sam does the only sensible thing and calls her mother. Before long, she finds her loyalties stretched to the limit as she herself is threatened.

The Bertie Project: A 44 Scotland Street Novel by Alexander McCall Smith - Fiction

February 7, 2017


Bertie’s mother, Irene, returns from the Middle East to discover that, in her absence, her son has been exposed to the worst of evils --- television shows, ice cream parlors, and even unsanctioned art at the National Portrait Gallery. Her wrath descends on Bertie’s long-suffering father, Stuart. But Stuart has found a reason to spend more time outside of the house and seems to have a new spring in his step. What does this mean for the residents of 44 Scotland Street? The winds of change have come to the others as well. As Irene resumes work on what she calls her Bertie Project, reinstating Bertie’s Italian lessons, yoga classes and psychotherapy, Bertie begins to hatch a project of his own --- one that promises freedom.

Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith, and Family by Garrard Conley - Memoir

February 7, 2017


When Garrard Conley was 19 years old, he was outed to his parents and forced to make a life-changing decision: either agree to attend a church-supported conversion therapy program that promised to “cure” him of homosexuality; or risk losing family, friends and the God he had prayed to every day of his life. Through an institutionalized Twelve-Step Program heavy on Bible study, Garrard was supposed to emerge heterosexual and stronger in his faith in God for his brush with sin. Instead, he found the strength and understanding to break out in search of his true self and forgiveness.

Brighton by Michael Harvey - Thriller

February 7, 2017


Kevin Pearce was only 15 when he and his buddy, Bobby Scales, committed heinous violence for what they thought were the best of reasons. Kevin didn’t want a pass, but he was getting it anyway. Bobby would stay and face the music; Kevin’s future would remain bright as ever. At least that was the way things were supposed to work. Twenty-six years later, Kevin is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist for the Boston Globe. When he learns that Bobby is the prime suspect in a string of local murders, he heads home to protect his friend and the secret they share. To report this story to the end and protect those he loves, he must face not only an elusive, slippery killer, but his own corrupted conscience.

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman - Fiction

February 7, 2017


When Britt-Marie walks out on her cheating husband and has to fend for herself, she is more than a little unprepared. Employed as the caretaker of a soon-to-be demolished recreation center, she finds herself being drawn into the daily doings of her fellow citizens, which includes a handsome local policeman whose romantic attentions to Britt-Marie are as unmistakable as they are unwanted. Most alarming of all, she’s given the impossible task of leading the supremely untalented children’s soccer team to victory. In this small town of big-hearted misfits, can Britt-Marie find a place where she truly belongs?

Charlotte Brontë: A Fiery Heart by Claire Harman - Biography

February 7, 2017


Charlotte Brontë famously lived her entire life in an isolated parsonage on a remote English moor with a demanding father and with siblings whose astonishing creativity was a closely held secret. The genius of Claire Harman’s biography is that it transcends these melancholy facts to reveal a woman for whom duty and piety gave way to quiet rebellion and fierce ambition. Drawing on letters unavailable to previous biographers, Harman depicts Charlotte’s inner life with absorbing intensity. Brontë’s blazingly intelligent female characters brimming with hidden passions transformed English literature, even as a heartrending series of personal losses followed the author’s literary success.

The Devil Crept In by Ania Ahlborn - Mystery/Horror

February 7, 2017


Young Jude Brighton has been missing for three days, and while the search for him is in full swing in the small town of Deer Valley, Oregon, the locals are starting to lose hope. Stevie Clark knows what each ticking moment may mean for his cousin, Jude. There was Max Larsen, a young boy who was found dead after also disappearing under mysterious circumstances. And then there were the animals: pets gone missing out of yards. For years, the residents of Deer Valley have murmured about these unsolved crimes…and that a killer may still be lurking around their quiet town. For Stevie, who is determined to find out what really happened to Jude, the awful truth may be too horrifying to imagine.

A Few of the Girls: Stories by Maeve Binchy - Fiction/Short Stories

February 7, 2017


A FEW OF THE GIRLS brings together, for the first time, 36 of Maeve Binchy’s very best stories --- some published in magazines, others written for friends as gifts, many for charity benefits, all of them filled with her trademark warmth, wisdom and humor. Written over a period of decades, these stories show that while times change, people often remain the same: they fall in love, sometimes unsuitably; they experience heartbreak, compassion and redemption; they hold to hopes and dreams; and they have friendships --- some that fall apart, and a few special ones that endure.

The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin - Fiction

February 7, 2017


One day, the preschool office calls and says Janie needs to come in to talk about her four-year-old son, Noah. And life as she knows it stops. For Jerome Anderson, life as he knows it has stopped. A deadly diagnosis has made him realize he is approaching the end of his life. He spent his life searching for that something else. And with Noah, he thinks he's found it. Soon Noah, Janie and Anderson will find themselves knocking on the door of a mother whose son has been missing for eight years --- and when that door opens, all of their questions will be answered.

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson - Memoir/Humor

February 7, 2017


In FURIOUSLY HAPPY, Jenny Lawson examines her own experience with severe depression and a host of other conditions, and explains how it has led her to live life to the fullest. There are so many people out there struggling with depression and mental illness, either themselves or someone in their family --- and in this book they will find a member of their tribe offering up an uplifting message (via a taxidermied roadkill raccoon).

The Gangster: An Isaac Bell Adventure by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott - Historical Thriller

February 7, 2017


It is 1906, and in New York City, the Italian crime group known as the Black Hand is on a spree: kidnapping, extortion, arson. Detective Isaac Bell of the Van Dorn Agency is hired to form a special “Black Hand Squad,” but the gangsters appear to be everywhere --- so much so that Bell begins to wonder if there are imitators, criminals using the name for the terror effect. And then the murders begin, each one of a man more powerful than the last. As Bell discovers, to his dismay, the ultimate target may be the most powerful man of all.

Ghachar Ghochar written by Vivek Shanbhag, translated by Srinath Perur - Fiction

February 7, 2017


A young man's close-knit family is nearly destitute when his uncle founds a successful spice company, changing their fortunes overnight. As they move from a cramped, ant-infested shack to a larger house on the other side of Bangalore, and try to adjust to a new way of life, allegiances realign; marriages are arranged and begin to falter; and conflict brews ominously in the background. Things become “ghachar ghochar” --- a nonsense phrase uttered by one of the characters that comes to mean something tangled beyond repair, a knot that can't be untied.

The Girl Behind the Door: A Father’s Quest to Understand His Daughter’s Suicide by John Brooks - Memoir

February 7, 2017


Early one Tuesday morning, John Brooks went to his teenage daughter’s room to make sure she was getting up for school and found her room dark and “neater than usual.” Casey was gone, but he found a note: The car is parked at the Golden Gate Bridge. I’m sorry. Several hours later, a security video was found that showed Casey stepping off the bridge. Brooks spent months after Casey’s suicide trying to understand what led his 17-year-old daughter to take her life. In THE GIRL BEHIND THE DOOR, Brooks shares what he learned and asks, “What did everyone miss? What could have been done differently?”

The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer - Psychological Thriller

February 7, 2017


Newly single mom Beth worries that her eight-year-old daughter, Carmel, who has a tendency to wander off, will one day go missing. And then it happens: The two get separated at a local outdoor festival, and Carmel vanishes. Beth sets herself on the grim and lonely mission to find her daughter. Carmel, meanwhile, is on a strange and harrowing journey of her own --- to a totally unexpected place that requires her to live by her wits, while trying desperately to keep in her head a vision of her mother.

Goodbye to the Dead by Brian Freeman - Psychological Thriller

February 7, 2017


Detective Jonathan Stride is haunted by his first wife Cindy’s death, even as he maintains a relationship with fellow detective Serena Dial. When Serena witnesses a brutal murder outside a bar, she stumbles onto a case that goes back to the last year of Cindy's life. At the time, Stride and Cindy were on opposing sides of an investigation that ended up sending Cindy’s friend, Janine, to prison for shooting her husband. During the current investigation, Serena finds a gun used in the murder of a woman connected to an organized crime syndicate --- a gun that turns out to be the same one used to kill Janine’s husband. Two unrelated cases years apart suddenly have a mysterious connection, and Stride must not only investigate, but also confront his past.

The Heart written by Maylis de Kerangal, translated by Sam Taylor - Fiction

February 7, 2017


Just before dawn on a Sunday morning, three teenage boys go surfing. While driving home exhausted, they are involved in a fatal car accident on a deserted road. Two of the boys are wearing seat belts; one goes through the windshield. The doctors declare him brain-dead shortly after arriving at the hospital, but his heart is still beating. THE HEART takes place over the 24 hours surrounding the resulting heart transplant, as life is taken from a young man and given to a woman close to death.

Here's to Us by Elin Hilderbrand - Fiction

February 7, 2017


Celebrity chef Deacon Thorpe has always been a force of nature with an insatiable appetite for life. But after that appetite contributes to Deacon's shocking death in his favorite place on earth, a ramshackle Nantucket summer cottage, his family is reeling. Now Deacon's three wives, his children and his best friend gather on the island he loved to say farewell. The three very different women have long been bitter rivals, each wanting to claim the primary place in Deacon's life and his heart. But as they slowly let go of the resentments they've held onto for years and remember the good times, secrets are revealed, confidences are shared and improbable bonds are formed.

High Dive by Jonathan Lee - Fiction

February 7, 2017


In the fall of 1984, the Grand Hotel in the seaside town of Brighton, England, became ground zero for the attempted assassination of Margaret Thatcher. Nimbly weaving together fact and fiction, comedy and tragedy, Jonathan Lee vividly reimagines those fateful days from the perspectives of three unforgettable characters --- a young IRA bomb maker, the deputy hotel manager, and his teenage daughter --- whose lives will be changed forever by the Prime Minister’s visit.

In Other Words written by Jhumpa Lahiri, translated by Ann Goldstein - Memoir

February 7, 2017


On a post-college visit to Florence, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri fell in love with the Italian language. Twenty years later, seeking total immersion, she and her family relocated to Rome, where she began to read and write solely in her adopted tongue. A startling act of self-reflection, IN OTHER WORDS is Lahiri’s meditation on the process of learning to express herself in another language --- and the stunning journey of a writer seeking a new voice.

Into Oblivion: An Icelandic Thriller by Arnaldur Indridason - Thriller

February 7, 2017


A woman swims in a remote, milky-blue lagoon. Steam rises from the water, and as it clears, a body is revealed in the ghostly light. Miles away, a vast aircraft hangar rises behind the perimeter fence of the US military base. A sickening thud is heard as a man's body falls from a high platform. Many years before, a schoolgirl went missing. The world has forgotten her, but Erlendur has not. Erlendur is a newly promoted detective with a battered body, a rouge CIA operative, and America's troublesome presence in Iceland to contend with.

The Love Object: Selected Stories by Edna O'Brien - Fiction/Short Stories

February 7, 2017


As John Banville writes in his introduction to THE LOVE OBJECT, Edna O'Brien "is, simply, one of the finest writers of our time.” The 31 stories collected in this volume provide, among other things, a cumulative portrait of Ireland, seen from within and without. Coming of age, the impact of class, and familial and romantic love are the prevalent motifs, along with the instinct toward escape and subsequent nostalgia for home. Some of the stories are linked, while others carry O'Brien's distinct sense of the comical.

Master of Ceremonies: A Memoir by Joel Grey - Memoir

February 7, 2017


MASTER OF CEREMONIES is a memoir of a life lived in and out of the limelight, but it is also the story of the man behind the stage makeup. Coming of age in a time when being yourself tended to be not only difficult but also dangerous, Joel Grey has to act both on and off the stage. Romances with to-die-for Vegas Showgirls are balanced with late night liaisons with like-minded guys, until finally Joel falls in love and marries a talented and beautiful woman. But 24 years later when the marriage dissolves, Joel once again has to find his place in a world that has radically changed.

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner - Literary Mystery

February 7, 2017


Edith Hind, a graduate student at Cambridge University and daughter of the surgeon to the Royal Family, has been missing for nearly 24 hours. Her home offers few clues: a smattering of blood in the kitchen, her keys and phone left behind, the front door ajar but showing no signs of forced entry. Manon Bradshaw’s investigation starts with Edith’s loved ones. As the search widens and press coverage reaches a frenzied pitch, secrets begin to emerge about Edith’s tangled love life and her erratic behavior leading up to her disappearance. What she discovers will have shocking consequences not just for Edith’s family but for Manon herself.

A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold - Memoir

February 7, 2017


On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Over the course of minutes, they would kill 12 students and a teacher and wound 24 others before taking their own lives. For the last 16 years, Sue Klebold, Dylan’s mother, has lived with the indescribable grief and shame of that day. In A MOTHER’S RECKONING, she chronicles with unflinching honesty her journey as a mother trying to come to terms with the incomprehensible.

The Photographer's Wife by Suzanne Joinson - Historical Fiction

February 7, 2017


It is 1937. Prue, an artist living a reclusive life by the sea, is visited by William Harrington, a British pilot she knew as a child in Jerusalem. Prue remembers an attraction between Harrington and Eleanora, the wife of a famous Jerusalem photographer, and the troubles that arose when Harrington learned Eleanora's husband was part of an underground group intent on removing the British. During his visit, Harrington reveals the truth behind what happened all those years ago, a truth that unravels Prue's world. Now she must follow the threads that lead her back to secrets long-ago buried in Jerusalem.

Saturn Run by John Sandford and Ctein - Futuristic Thriller/Adventure

February 7, 2017


In 2066, a Caltech intern notices an anomaly from a space telescope --- something is approaching Saturn, and decelerating. Space objects don’t decelerate. Spaceships do. A flurry of top-level government meetings produce the inescapable conclusion: Whatever built the ship is at least 100 years ahead of our technology, and whoever can get their hands on it will have an advantage so large, no other nation can compete. The race is on, and a remarkable adventure begins. Soon a hastily thrown-together crew finds its strength and wits tested against adversaries of this earth and beyond.

Sisi: Empress on Her Own by Allison Pataki - Historical Fiction

February 7, 2017


Married to Emperor Franz Joseph, Elisabeth --- fondly known as Sisi --- captures the hearts of her people as their “fairy queen,” but beneath that dazzling persona lives a far more complex figure. Sisi grows restless, feeling stifled by strict protocols and a turbulent marriage. A free-spirited wanderer, she finds solace at her estate outside Budapest. There she rides her beloved horses and enjoys visits from the striking Hungarian statesman Count Andrássy. But tragic news brings Sisi out of her fragile seclusion, forcing her to return to her capital and a world of gossip, envy and sorrow where a dangerous fate lurks in the shadows.

Sudden Death written by Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer - Historical Fiction

February 7, 2017


SUDDEN DEATH begins with a brutal tennis match between the bawdy Italian painter Caravaggio and the loutish Spanish poet Quevedo that could decide the fate of the world. In England, Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII behead Anne Boleyn, and her crafty executioner transforms her legendary locks into the most sought-after tennis balls of the time. Across the ocean in Mexico, conquistador Hernán Cortés and his Mayan translator and lover, La Malinche, scheme and conquer, not knowing that their domestic comedy will change the world. And in a remote Mexican colony, a bishop reads Thomas More’s UTOPIA and thinks it’s a manual.

Switched On: A Memoir of Brain Change and Emotional Awakening by John Elder Robison - Memoir

February 7, 2017


In 2007, John Elder Robison wrote the international bestseller LOOK ME IN THE EYE, a memoir about growing up with Asperger’s syndrome. Amid the blaze of publicity that followed, he received a unique invitation: Would John like to take part in a study led by one of the world’s foremost neuroscientists, who would use an experimental new brain therapy known as TMS, or transcranial magnetic stimulation, in an effort to understand and then address the issues at the heart of autism? SWITCHED ON is the extraordinary story of what happened next.

Teddy and Me: Confessions of a Service Human by Michael Savage - Memoir/Essays

February 7, 2017


Listeners know Teddy as the silent "other host" of “The Savage Nation.” He's at Michael Savage's side during every broadcast, guarding the radio equipment and nipping the engineer's sneakers. But the fun doesn't end when the "On-Air" light goes off. Teddy is Savage's constant companion --- in the car, at home and even shopping. Most important, he's Savage's inspiration, helping him remember that the most important things in life are the little things. TEDDY AND ME is a rare glimpse into the life of one of America's most popular talk radio hosts.

Tender by Belinda McKeon - Psychological Thriller

February 7, 2017


When they meet in Dublin in the late ’90s, Catherine and James become close friends. She’s a sheltered college student, while he’s an adventurous, charismatic young artist. In a city brimming with possibilities, he spurs her to take life on with gusto. But as Catherine opens herself to new experiences, James' life becomes a prison, walled off by a truth he feels unable to share. When crisis hits, Catherine finds herself at the mercy of uncontrollable feelings, leading her to jeopardize everything.

The Unseeing by Anna Mazzola - Historical Mystery

February 7, 2017


Sentenced to hang for her alleged role in a shocking murder, Sarah Gale confronts the young lawyer asked to examine her guilty verdict. She says she is innocent, but she refuses to explain the evidence given in court --- the evidence that convicted her. Battling his own demons, Edmund Fleetwood is determined to find the truth --- and to uncover why Sarah won't talk. Does it matter what else she's done, if she's innocent of murder? As the day of execution draws closer, Edmund struggles to discover whether she is the victim of a terrible miscarriage of justice, or a dangerous and devious criminal.

Where My Heart Used to Beat by Sebastian Faulks - Psychological Suspense

February 7, 2017


Robert Hendricks, an established psychiatrist and author, has so bottled up memories of his own wartime past that he is nearly sunk into a life of depression. Out of the blue, a baffling letter arrives from Dr. Alexander Pereira, a neurologist and a World War I veteran who claims to be an admirer of Robert's published work. The letter brings Robert to the older man's home on a rocky, secluded island off the south of France, and into tempests of memories. As Robert's recollections pour forth, he's unsure whether they will lead to psychosis or redemption. But Dr. Pereira knows.

While the City Slept: A Love Lost to Violence and a Wake-Up Call for Mental Health Care in America by Eli Sanders - True Crime/Psychology

February 7, 2017


On a summer night in 2009, three lives intersected in one American neighborhood. Two people newly in love --- Teresa Butz and Jennifer Hopper, who spent many years trying to find themselves and eventually found each other --- and a young man on a dangerous psychological descent: Isaiah Kalebu, the son of a distant, authoritarian father and a mother with a family history of mental illness. All three paths forever altered by a violent crime, all three stories a wake-up call to the system that failed to see the signs.

The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso - Fiction

February 7, 2017


Hortensia James and Marion Agostino are neighbors. One is black, the other white. Both are successful women with impressive careers. Both have recently been widowed, and are living with questions, disappointments and secrets that have brought them shame. And each has something that the woman next door deeply desires. Sworn enemies, the two share a hedge and a deliberate hostility, which they maintain with a zeal that belies their age. But, one day, an unexpected event forces Hortensia and Marion together. As the physical barriers between them collapse, their bickering gradually softens into conversation and eventually the two discover common ground. But are these sparks of connection enough to ignite a friendship, or is it too late to expect these women to change?

The Yid by Paul Goldberg - Historical Fiction

February 7, 2017


A week before Stalin's death, his final pogrom is in full swing. Three government goons arrive in the middle of the night to arrest Solomon Shimonovich Levinson, an actor from the defunct State Jewish Theater. But Levinson is a veteran of past wars, and his shocking response to the intruders sets in motion a series of events both zany and deadly as he proceeds to assemble a ragtag group to help him enact a mad-brilliant plot: the assassination of a tyrant. While the setting is Soviet Russia, the backdrop is Shakespeare: A mad king has a diabolical plan to exterminate and deport his country's remaining Jews.