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Week of May 10, 2021

New in Paperback

Week of May 10, 2021

Paperback releases for the week of May 10th include THE MOTION OF THE BODY THROUGH SPACE, Lionel Shriver’s entertaining send-up of today’s cult of exercise --- which not only encourages better health, but now like all religions also seems to promise meaning, social superiority and eternal life --- in which an aging husband’s sudden obsession with extreme sport makes him unbearable; SQUEEZE ME, Carl Hiaasen's hilarious novel of social and political intrigues, set against the glittering backdrop of Florida’s gold coast; COUNTDOWN 1945, veteran journalist and "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace's electrifying behind-the-scenes account of the 116 days leading up to the American attack on Hiroshima; and DJINN PATROL ON THE PURPLE LINE, Deepa Anappara's Edgar Award-winning debut novel about three friends who venture into the most dangerous corners of a sprawling Indian city to find their missing classmate.

All the Way to the Tigers: A Memoir by Mary Morris - Memoir

May 11, 2021

In February 2008, a casual afternoon of ice skating derailed the trip of a lifetime. Mary Morris was on the verge of a well-earned sabbatical, but instead she endured three months in a wheelchair, two surgeries and extensive rehabilitation. One morning, when she was supposed to be in Morocco, Morris was lying on the sofa reading DEATH IN VENICE, casting her eyes over these words again and again: "He would go on a journey. Not far. Not all the way to the tigers." Disaster shifted to possibility, and Morris made a decision. When she was well enough to walk again (and her doctor wasn't sure she ever would), she would go "all the way to the tigers." So begins a three-year odyssey that takes Morris to India on a tiger safari in search of the world’s most elusive apex predator.

Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World by Chris Wallace with Mitch Weiss - History

May 11, 2021

April 12, 1945: After years of bloody conflict in Europe and the Pacific, America is stunned by news of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death. In an instant, Vice President Harry Truman, who has been kept out of war planning and knows nothing of the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first atomic bomb, must assume command of a nation at war on multiple continents --- and confront one of the most consequential decisions in history. COUNTDOWN 1945 tells the gripping true story of the turbulent days, weeks and months to follow, leading up to August 6, 1945, when Truman gives the order to drop the bomb on Hiroshima.

Daughters of Smoke and Fire by Ava Homa - Fiction

May 11, 2021

Set primarily in Iran, Ava Homa's debut novel weaves 50 years of modern Kurdish history through a story of a family facing oppression and injustices all too familiar to the Kurds. Leila dreams of making films to bring the suppressed stories of her people onto the global stage, but obstacles keep piling up. Her younger brother, Chia, influenced by their father’s past torture, imprisonment and his deep-seated desire for justice, begins to engage with social and political affairs. But his activism grows increasingly risky, and one day he disappears in Tehran. Seeking answers about her brother’s whereabouts, Leila fears the worst and begins a campaign to save him. But when she publishes Chia’s writings online, she finds herself in grave danger as well.

The Dirty South by John Connolly - Mystery/Thriller

May 11, 2021

It is 1997, and someone is slaughtering young women in Burdon County, Arkansas. But no one in the Dirty South wants to admit it. In an Arkansas jail cell sits a former NYPD detective, stricken by grief. He is mourning the death of his wife and child, and searching in vain for their killer. Obsessed with avenging his lost family, his life is about to take a shocking turn. Witness the dawning of a conscience. Witness the birth of a hunter. Witness the becoming of Charlie Parker.

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara - Mystery/Suspense

May 11, 2021

Nine-year-old Jai drools outside sweet shops, watches too many reality police shows, and considers himself to be smarter than his friends Pari (though she gets the best grades) and Faiz (though Faiz has an actual job). When a classmate goes missing, Jai decides to use the crime-solving skills he has picked up from TV to find him. He asks Pari and Faiz to be his assistants, and together they draw up lists of people to interview and places to visit. But what begins as a game turns sinister as other children start disappearing from their neighborhood. Jai, Pari and Faiz have to confront terrified parents, an indifferent police force and rumors of soul-snatching djinns. As the disappearances edge ever closer to home, the lives of Jai and his friends will never be the same again.

Don't Make Me Turn This Life Around by Camille Pagán - Fiction

May 11, 2021

It’s been 13 years since doctors declared Libby Ross-Velasquez a goner. Yet here she is, cancer free. So why doesn’t she feel more alive? Sure, Libby’s husband, Shiloh, has been distant. One of their daughters has a serious health condition. And her father’s death hovers over Libby like a rain cloud. Still, this eternal optimist knows she’s the winner of the existential lottery. But when her forced cheer isn’t enough to keep her family from catching her blahs, she decides to fly them all to Vieques. The Puerto Rican island is where she and Shiloh fell in love --- and where she decided to fight for her life after her cancer diagnosis. Then a tropical storm strikes. Libby pretends everything is fine, even as she fears she has doomed her family.

The Falling Woman by Richard Farrell - Fiction

May 11, 2021

First, it’s just a barely believable rumor: one person may have survived the midair explosion of a passenger jet on a cross-country course from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco. But soon she becomes a national media sensation when “the Falling Woman,” as the press dubs her, is said to have been taken to a Wichita hospital --- and then to have disappeared without a trace. As a dedicated National Transportation Safety Bureau agent joins the search for clues, he becomes drawn into the woman’s moving and personal fight to keep secret the story of her survival, even from her own family, and possibly at risk to his own career.

The First Ten Years: Two Sides of the Same Love Story by Meg Bashwiner and Joseph Fink - Memoir

May 11, 2021

In 2009, 22-year-old Joseph Fink was juggling odd jobs to pay the rent and volunteering with a theater company in the East Village so he could snag free tickets to their shows. Meg Bashwiner, a 22-year-old aspiring performer and playwright, was living with her parents in New Jersey, working a desk job and commuting to her internship with that same East Village theater company. Joseph and Meg's stories meet when they both find themselves selling tickets in a cramped box office. They quickly became friends. Within a year, they were a couple. In this candid, soul-baring memoir, Joseph and Meg recount their first 10 years together, each telling their story as they remember it, without having consulted the other.

A Good Mother by Lara Bazelon - Legal Thriller

May 11, 2021

When a soldier is found stabbed through the heart at a US Army base, there is no doubt that his wife, Luz, is to blame. But was it an act of self-defense? An attempt to save her infant daughter? Or the cold-blooded murder of an innocent man? Ambitious public defender Abby is determined to win at all costs. As a new mother herself, she wants to keep Luz out of prison and with her daughter. But when the surprises stack up and shocking new evidence emerges, Abby realizes the task proves far more difficult than she suspected and will require a terrible sacrifice. As the trial hurtles toward an outcome no one expects, Abby, Luz and a captivated jury are forced to answer the question that will decide everything: What does it mean to be a good mother?

The Holdout by Graham Moore - Legal Thriller

May 11, 2021

Fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver, heiress to a billion-dollar real estate fortune, vanishes on her way home from school, and her teacher, Bobby Nock, a 25-year-old African American man, is the prime suspect. It’s an open-and-shut case for the prosecution, and a quick conviction seems all but guaranteed --- until Maya Seale, convinced of Nock’s innocence, persuades her fellow jurors to return the verdict of not guilty. Flash forward 10 years. A true-crime docuseries reassembles the jury, with particular focus on Maya, now a defense attorney herself. When one of the jurors is found dead in Maya’s hotel room, all evidence points to her as the killer. Now, she must prove her own innocence --- by getting to the bottom of a case that is far from closed.

Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession - Fiction

May 11, 2021

Popular Irish musician Ronan Hession tells the story of two single, thirty-something men who still live with their parents and who are…nice. They take care of their parents and play board games together. They like to read. They take satisfaction from their work. They are resolutely kind. And they realize that none of this is considered…normal. LEONARD AND HUNGRY PAUL is the story of two friends struggling to protect their understanding of what’s meaningful in life.

More Miracle Than Bird by Alice Miller - Historical Fiction

May 11, 2021

On the eve of World War I, 21-year-old Georgie Hyde-Lees meets the acclaimed poet W. B. Yeats at a soirée in London. Although Yeats is famously eccentric and many years her senior, Georgie is drawn to him, and when he extends a cryptic invitation to a secret society, her life is forever changed. As Georgie finds purpose tending to injured soldiers in a makeshift hospital, she befriends the wounded and heartbroken Lieutenant Pike, who might need more from her than she is able to give. At night, she escapes with Yeats into a darker world, becoming immersed in the Order, a clandestine society of ritual and magic. As forces --- both of this world and the next --- pull Yeats and Georgie closer together and then apart, Georgie uncovers a secret that threatens to undo it all.

The Motion of the Body Through Space by Lionel Shriver - Fiction

May 11, 2021

After an ignominious early retirement, Remington announces to his wife, Serenata, that he’s decided to run a marathon. This from a sedentary man in his 60s who’s never done a lick of exercise in his life. As Remington joins the cult of fitness that increasingly consumes the Western world, Serenata’s once-modest husband burgeons into an unbearable narcissist. Ignoring all his other obligations, he engages a saucy, sexy personal trainer named Bambi, who treats Serenata with contempt. When Remington sets his sights on the legendarily grueling triathlon, MettleMan, Serenata is sure he’ll end up injured or dead. And even if he does survive, their marriage may not.

Our Symphony with Animals: On Health, Empathy, and Our Shared Destinies by Aysha Akhtar, M.D. - Social History/Medicine

May 11, 2021

OUR SYMPHONY WITH ANIMALS is the first book by a physician to show how deeply the well-being of humans and animals are entwined. Interwoven throughout is Dr. Aysha Akhtar’s own story of being a young girl who was bullied in school and sexually abused by her uncle. Feeling abandoned by humanity, it was only when she met Sylvester, a dog who also had been abused, that she found strength for both of them. Against the backdrop of her inspiring story, Dr. Akhtar asks: What do we gain when we recognize our kinship with animals? She travels around the country to tell the stories of a varied cast of characters --- including a former mobster, an industrial chicken farmer and a Marine veteran --- and comes face to face with a serial killer.

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry - Romantic Comedy

May 11, 2021

Ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, Poppy and Alex are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart, but every summer, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. She decides to convince Alex to take one more vacation together --- lay everything on the table and make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees. Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen - Mystery/Humor

May 11, 2021

At the height of Palm Beach’s charity ball season, Kiki Pew Fitzsimmons, a prominent member of geriatric high society, suddenly vanishes during a swank gala. Kiki Pew was a founding member of the Potussies, a group of women dedicated to supporting the President, who spends half the year at the “Winter White House” just down the road. Meanwhile, Angie Armstrong, wildlife wrangler extraordinaire, is called to the island to deal with a monster-sized Burmese python that has taken residency in a tree. But the President is focused on the disappearance of Kiki Pew, immediately declaring her a victim of rampaging immigrant hordes. This, it turns out, is far from the truth, which now lies in the middle of the road, where a bizarre discovery brings the First Lady’s motorcade to a grinding halt.

Summer by Ali Smith - Fiction

May 11, 2021

In the present, Sacha knows the world is in trouble. Her brother, Robert, just is trouble. Their mother and father are having trouble. Meanwhile, the world is in meltdown --- and the real meltdown hasn’t even started yet. In the past, a lovely summer. A different brother and sister know they’re living on borrowed time. This is a story about people on the brink of change. They’re family, but they think they’re strangers. So: Where does family begin? And what do people who think they have nothing in common have in common? Summer.

Three Single Wives by Gina LaManna - Domestic Thriller/Mystery

May 11, 2021

When Anne Wilkes, Eliza Tate and Penny Sands arrive at book club bearing bottles of wine, none of them are plotting to kill. But when the subject of a philandering husband arises, revenge is in the air. By the end of the night, someone is dead. Two women with rings on their fingers and one with stars in her eyes. All of them are hiding something. All of them are lying. What really happened that night? Only the guilty knows. Did one woman take everything too far, or is the truth really more twisted than fiction?

While Nobody Is Watching by Michelle Dunne - Thriller

May 11, 2021

A semi-inflated football and a curious little girl. They called it peacekeeping. For Corporal Lindsey Ryan, it was anything but. It’s been three years since that bright day in the Golan Heights and the explosion that killed two and changed the survivors forever. Now Lindsey deals with the many problems of the city’s troubled youth, to distract her from her own. But as damp days turn to night, the kids return home --- or somewhere like it --- and she returns to her own private war. Certain that she’s being watched and certain that she’s losing her mind, Lindsey battles with the demons of post-traumatic stress, while a very real threat edges ever closer until she finds herself face to face with someone who wants nothing more than to finally help her to die. And it’s the last person she ever could have seen coming.