April 15, 2014

April 14th

A BROKEN HALLELUJAH: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen by Liel Leibovitz (Music)
Why is it that Leonard Cohen receives the sort of reverence we reserve for a precious few living artists? Why are his songs, three or four decades after their original release, suddenly gracing the charts, blockbuster movie sound tracks, and television singing competitions? These are two of the questions at the heart of A BROKEN HALLELUJAH, a meditation on the singer, his music, and the ideas and beliefs at its core.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393082050


April 15th

BLOOD ALWAYS TELLS by Hilary Davidson (Thriller)
Dominique Monaghan just wanted to get even with her two-timing, married boyfriend, a washed-up boxer stuck in a toxic marriage to a dangerously spoiled socialite. However, an elaborate blackmail scheme soon lands her in the middle of an unexpected kidnapping…and attempted murder. But who is actually out to kill whom?
Forge Books * 9780765333544

CASEBOOK by Mona Simpson (Fiction)
From the acclaimed and award-winning author of ANYWHERE BUT HERE and MY HOLLYWOOD comes a powerful new novel about a young boy’s quest to uncover the mysteries of his unraveling family. What he discovers turns out to be what he least wants to know: the inner workings of his parents’ lives. And even then he can’t stop searching.
Knopf * 9780385351416

THE COLLECTOR by Nora Roberts (Romantic Suspense)
When professional house-sitter Lila Emerson witnesses a murder/suicide from her current apartment-sitting job, life as she knows it takes a dramatic turn. Artist Ashton Archer knows his brother isn’t capable of violence, so he recruits Lila, the only eyewitness, to help him uncover what happened. Their investigation draws them into a rarified circle where what you desire becomes a deadly obsession.
Putnam Adult * 9780399164453

FAR GONE by Laura Griffin (Romantic Suspense)
While on leave from her job, police detective Andrea Finch gets an urgent call from her younger brother. Her search for answers takes her to a dusty Texas border town where danger lurks in plain sight. FBI agent Jon North is working undercover in west Texas investigating an unsolved murder that may be linked to a broader plot. But when the evidence points to Andrea’s brother, Jon finds that persuading the stubborn cop to help will be harder than cracking his toughest case.
Gallery Books * 9781451689341

THE LITTLE GIRL WHO FOUGHT THE GREAT DEPRESSION: Shirley Temple and 1930s America by John F. Kasson (Biography)
Amid the deprivation and despair of the Great Depression, Shirley Temple radiated optimism and plucky good cheer that lifted the spirits of millions and shaped their collective character for generations to come. Cultural historian John F. Kasson shows how the most famous, adored, imitated and commodified child in the world astonished movie goers, created a new international culture of celebrity, and revolutionized the role of children as consumers.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393240795

NORTHANGER ABBEY by Val McDermid (Fiction)
Internationally bestselling crime writer Val McDermid has riveted millions of readers worldwide with her acutely suspenseful, psychologically complex, seamlessly plotted thrillers. In NORTHANGER ABBEY, she delivers her own witty, updated take on Austen’s classic novel about a young woman whose visit to the stately home of a well-to-do acquaintance stirs her most macabre imaginings.
Grove Press * 9780802123015

THE OTHER STORY by Tatiana de Rosnay (Fiction)
At 24, Nicolas Duhamel stumbled upon a troubling secret about his family. In shock, he embarked on a journey to uncover the truth, but the answers wouldn’t come easily. Nicolas then began writing a novel that was met with phenomenal success. But now, years later, he must reexamine everything he thought he knew, as he learns that, however deeply buried, the secrets of the past always find a way out.
St. Martin's Press * 9781250045133

OVERWATCH by Marc Guggenheim (Legal Thriller)
Alex Garnett has spent his life in the shadow of his father, a former Chief of Staff and Solicitor General to two presidents who's been responsible for getting Alex every job he ever had, including his latest: attorney for the CIA. However, a seemingly routine litigation leads to a series of unexpected events, including poison, kidnapping, torture and murder. As casualties pile up, it becomes clear Alex is the final target in someone's blood-soaked attempts to cover their tracks.
Mulholland Books * 9780316212472

POSTCARDS FROM COOKIE: A Memoir of Motherhood, Miracles, and a Whole Lot of Mail by Caroline Clarke (Memoir)
Award-winning journalist and host of Black "Enterprise" Business Report Caroline Clarke has penned a moving memoir of her surprise discovery of her birthmother --- Cookie Cole, the daughter of Nat King Cole --- and the relationship that blossomed between them through the heartfelt messages they exchanged on hundreds of postcards.
Harper * 9780062103178

SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED: Celebrating the Joys of Letter Writing by Nina Sankovitch (Memoir)
Nina Sankovitch’s son is heading off to Harvard, and she hopes that he will write to her, as she wrote to her mother. But times have changed. Before Nina can persuade her child of the value of letters, she must first understand for herself exactly what it is about letters that make them so significant --- and just why she wants to receive letters from her son. So she sets off on a quest through the history of letter writing.
Simon & Schuster * 9781451687156

SONGS ONLY YOU KNOW: A Memoir by Sean Madigan Hoen (Memoir)
Eighteen-year-old Sean Madigan Hoen was struggling to keep his involvement in the city’s hardcore punk scene a secret from his family. Then he learned that his father, too, had a second life --- as a crack addict. SONGS ONLY YOU KNOW begins in the '90s and spans a decade during which the family fights to hold itself together. The closer Sean comes to realizing his musical dream, the further he drifts from his family and himself.
Soho Press * 9781616953362

STAND STRONG: You Can Overcome Bullying (and Other Stuff That Keeps You Down) by Nick Vujicic (Self-Help/Motivational)
With no arms, no legs and no defense, Nick Vujicic was once a bully’s target and knows what it feels like to be picked on and pushed around: It makes your stomach hurt, gives you nightmares, and feels like there is no hope in sight. But Nick shows how you too can overcome and rise above bullying. You can stand up to the challenge, because you have greater power over your feelings and your life than you may think!
WaterBrook Press * 9780307730930

THE STEADY RUNNING OF THE HOUR by Justin Go (Fiction/Adventure)
In 1924, the English mountaineer Ashley Walsingham dies attempting to summit Mount Everest, leaving his fortune to his former lover, Imogen Soames-Andersson. But because she can’t be found, the estate remains unclaimed. Nearly 80 years later, it is discovered that a young American named Tristan Campbell could be the estate’s rightful heir. If Tristan can prove he is Imogen’s descendant, the inheritance will be his. But with only weeks before Ashley’s trust expires, Tristan must hurry to find the evidence he needs.
Simon & Schuster * 9781476704586

UNDER A SILENT MOON by Elizabeth Haynes (Mystery)
In the crisp, early hours of an autumn morning, the police are called to investigate two deaths. The first is a suspected murder at a farm on the outskirts of a small village. The second is a reported suicide at a nearby quarry. As Detective Chief Inspector Louisa Smith and her team gather evidence, they discover a shocking link between the two cases and the two deaths --- a bond that sealed their terrible fates one cold night, under a silent moon.
Harper * 9780062276025

UNTIL YOU'RE MINE by Samantha Hayes (Thriller)
When Claudia hires Zoe to help her around the house in anticipation of her baby’s arrival, it seems like the answer to her prayers. But there's something about Zoe that Claudia cannot trust. Moreover, there has been a series of violent attacks on pregnant women in the area, and Claudia becomes acutely aware of her vulnerability. As she digs deeper into Zoe’s blurry past, Claudia begins to wonder how far someone would go to have a child of her own.
Crown * 9780804136891

A WANTED WOMAN by Eric Jerome Dickey (Romantic Suspense)
The Trinidad contract was supposed to be simple: to make a living man become a dead man. When the job goes bad, there is nowhere for agent MX-401, known as Reaper, to hide from the fearsome local warlords, the Laventille Killers. Her employers, the Barbarians, send her to Barbados with the LK’s in hot pursuit of the woman who took many of their own. While she trawls for low-profile assignments, Reaper discovers that family ties run deep, on both sides of the fight.
Dutton Adult * 9780525954279

April 14th

FOOLS: Stories by Joan Silber (Fiction/Short Stories)
When is it wise to be a fool for something? What makes people want to be better than they are? The characters in Joan Silber’s new story collection tackle this question head-on. Vera, the shy, anarchist daughter of missionary parents, leaves her family for love and activism in New York. A generation later, her own doubting daughter insists on the truth of being of two minds, even in marriage. The adulterous son of a Florida hotel owner steals money from his family and departs for Paris, where he takes up with a young woman and finds himself outsmarted in turn.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393348897


April 15th

A BROKEN KIND OF BEAUTIFUL by Katie Ganshert (Romance)
Paperback Original
Ivy Clark is a model who moves to the quaint island town of Greenbrier, South Carolina, to be the new face of her stepmother’s bridal wear line. If only her tenuous future didn’t rest in the hands of Davis Knight, her mysterious new photographer. Not only did he walk away from the kind of success Ivy longs for to work maintenance at a local church, he treats her differently than any man ever has. Somehow, Davis sees through the facade she works so hard to maintain.
WaterBrook Press * 9781601425904

THE IMPOSSIBLE LIVES OF GRETA WELLS by Andrew Sean Greer (Fiction)
After the death of her beloved twin brother and the abandonment of her long-time lover, Greta Wells undergoes electroshock therapy. Over the course of the treatment, Greta finds herself repeatedly sent to 1918, 1941, and back to the present. In these other worlds, Greta finds her brother alive and well --- though fearfully masking his true personality. And her former lover is now her devoted husband. But will he be unfaithful to her in this life as well?
Ecco * 9780062213792

THE LITTLE WAY OF RUTHIE LEMING: A Southern Girl, a Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life by Rod Dreher (Memoir)
Rod Dreher, a Philadelphia journalist, returns to his hometown in the wake of his younger sister Ruthie's death. He begins to wonder whether the ordinary life Ruthie led was in fact a path of hidden grandeur, even spiritual greatness, concealed within the modest life of a mother and teacher. In order to explore this revelation, Dreher and his wife decide to have their three children grow up amidst the rituals that had defined his family for five generations.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455521890

THE LONG SHADOW by Liza Marklund (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
An intruder brutally murders an entire family, and newspaper reporter Annika Bengtzon must fly there to report on the case. Upon arrival, she discovers that a fifth family member is unaccounted for. Soon, the killers are found, but they too have met their demise. Amid a culture weighed down by drug smuggling and money laundering, Annika must try to find the missing girl before it’s too late.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books * 9781451607031

THE PELICAN BRIDE: Gulf Coast Chronicles, Book 1 by Beth White (Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
It is 1704 when Frenchwoman Geneviève Gaillain and her sister board the frigate Pélican bound for the distant Louisiana colony. Both have promised to marry one of the rough men toiling in this strange new world in order to escape suffering in the old. When Geneviève falls in love with Tristan Lanier, an expatriate cartographer-turned-farmer whose checkered past is shrouded in mystery, Geneviève realizes that even in this land of liberty one is not guaranteed peace.
Revell * 9780800721978

THE PURSUIT OF TAMSEN LITTLEJOHN by Lori Benton (Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
In an act of brave defiance, Tamsen Littlejohn escapes the life her harsh stepfather has forced upon her. Forsaking security and an arranged marriage, she enlists frontiersman Jesse Bird to guide her to the Watauga settlement in western North Carolina. But shedding her old life doesn’t come without cost. As the two cross a vast mountain wilderness, Tamsen faces hardships that test the limits of her faith and endurance.
WaterBrook Press * 9780307731494

SPIRITUAL MISFIT: A Memoir of Uneasy Faith by Michelle DeRusha (Memoir)
Paperback Original
After 20 years of unbelief, estranged from her childhood faith and ultimately from God, Michelle DeRusha unexpectedly found herself wrestling hard with questions of spirituality --- and deeply frustrated by the lack of clear answers. Until she realized that the questions themselves paved a way for faith. SPIRITUAL MISFIT chronicles Michelle's journey toward an understanding that belief and doubt can coexist.
Convergent Books * 9781601425324

SPOKEN FOR: Embracing Who You Are and Whose You Are by Robin Jones Gunn and Alyssa Joy Bethke (Christian Life/Spiritual Growth)
Paperback Original
In SPOKEN FOR, Robin Jones Gunn and Alyssa Joy Bethke speak to your heart about what it means for you to belong to Christ, who you are because of His love, and how that affects the way you live. Drawing on biblical promises and their personal experiences, these two friends share what it’s like to live out God’s unfolding love story.
Multnomah Books * 9781601425973

A STEP OF FAITH by Richard Paul Evans (Fiction)
After the death of his beloved wife and the loss of his advertising business and home, Alan Christoffersen is a broken man. Leaving everything he knows, he sets out on an extraordinary cross-country journey --- from Seattle to Key West. Along the way, Alan meets people who teach him lessons about love, sacrifice and forgiveness. But in St. Louis, Alan faces another life-changing crisis, putting the journey in jeopardy.
Simon & Schuster * 9781451628302

VISITATION STREET by Ivy Pochoda (Mystery)
It’s summertime in Red Hook, Brooklyn, a blue-collar dockside neighborhood. June and Val, two 15-year-olds, take a raft out onto the bay at night to see what they can see. And then they disappear. Only Val will survive, washed ashore and semi-conscious in the weeds. This shocking event will echo through the lives of a diverse cast of Red Hook residents. Val contends with the shadow of her missing friend and a truth she buries deep inside.
Dennis Lehane Books/Ecco * 9780062249906

April 22nd

50 CHILDREN: One Ordinary American Couple's Extraordinary Rescue Mission into the Heart of Nazi Germany by Steven Pressman (History)
Based on the acclaimed HBO documentary, 50 CHILDREN is the astonishing true story of how one American couple transported 50 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Austria to America in 1939 --- the single largest group of unaccompanied refugee children allowed into the United States.
Harper * 9780062237477

BRIDGE TO HAVEN by Francine Rivers (Historical Fiction)
To those who matter in 1950s Hollywood, Lena Scott is the hottest rising star to hit the silver screen since Marilyn Monroe. Few know her real name is Abra. Even fewer know the price she’s paid to finally feel like she’s somebody. Hollywood feels like a million miles from Haven, and naive Abra quickly learns what’s expected of an ambitious girl with stars in her eyes. But fame comes at an awful price. She has burned every bridge to get exactly what she thought she wanted.
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. * 9781414368184

CHESTNUT STREET by Maeve Binchy (Fiction)
The late Maeve Binchy imagined a street in Dublin with many characters coming and going, and every once in a while she would write about one of these people. She would then put it in a drawer; "for the future," she would say. The future is now. Across town from St. Jarlath’s Crescent, featured in MINDING FRANKIE, is Chestnut Street, where neighbors come and go. Behind their closed doors, we encounter very different people with different life circumstances, occupations and sensibilities.
Knopf * 9780385351850

EVERYBODY'S GOT SOMETHING: A Memoir by Robin Roberts with Veronica Chambers (Memoir)
With grace, heart and humor, Robin Roberts writes about overcoming breast cancer only to learn five years later that she will need a bone marrow transplant to combat a rare blood disorder, the grief and heartbreak she suffered when her mother passed away, her triumphant return to “Good Morning America” after her medical leave, and the tremendous support and love of her family and friends that saw her through her difficult times.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455578450

EVERYTHING TO LOSE by Andrew Gross (Thriller)
When Hilary Blum stops to help a car that slammed into a tree, she discovers the driver dead --- and a satchel stuffed with a half a million dollars. That money could prevent her family's ruin and keep her special needs son in school. In an instant, this honest, achieving woman who has always done the responsible thing makes a decision that puts her in the center of a maelstrom of dark consequences and life-threatening recriminations.
William Morrow * 9780061656002

THE FURIES by Mark Alpert (Thriller)
For centuries, the Furies have lived among us. They’re human just like us, except for a rare genetic mutation that they’ve hidden from the rest of the world for hundreds of years. Now, a chance encounter with a beautiful woman named Ariel has led John Rogers into the middle of a secret war among the Furies. Ariel needs John’s help in the battle between a rebellious faction of the clan and their elders. The grand prize in this war is a chance to remake the human race.
Thomas Dunne Books * 9781250021359

LOVE, NINA: A Nanny Writes Home by Nina Stibbe (Memoir)
In 1982, 20-year-old Nina Stibbe moved to London to work as a nanny to two opinionated and lively young boys. In frequent letters home to her sister, Nina described her trials and triumphs. Dinner table discussions cover the gamut, from the greats of English literature, to swearing in German, to sexually transmitted diseases. There's no end to what Nina can learn from these boys (rude words) and their broad-minded mother (the who's who of literary London).
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316243391

LOVERS AT THE CHAMELEON CLUB, PARIS 1932 by Francine Prose (Historical Fiction)
Paris in the 1920s shimmers with excitement, dissipation and freedom. At the Chameleon Club, the striking Lou Villars, an extraordinary athlete and scandalous cross-dressing lesbian, finds refuge among the club’s loyal denizens, including the rising Hungarian photographer Gabor Tsenyi, the socialite and art patron Baroness Lily de Rossignol, and the caustic American writer Lionel Maine. As the years pass, their fortunes --- and the world itself --- evolve.
Harper * 9780061713781

MY ACCIDENTAL JIHAD: A Love Story by Krista Bremer (Memoir)
Fifteen years ago, Krista Bremer would not have been able to imagine her life today: married to a Libyan-born Muslim, raising two children with Arabic names in the American South. Nor could she have imagined the prejudice she would encounter or the profound ways her marriage would change her perception of the world. MY ACCIDENTAL JIHAD explores what it means to open our hearts to another culture and to embrace our own.
Algonquin Books * 9781616200688

ON THE ROCKS by Erin Duffy (Fiction)
Six months ago, Abby's longtime boyfriend-turned-fiancé, Ben, dumped her on Facebook while she was trying on dresses for the big day. Her best friend, Grace, devises a plan to get Abby back on her game. But no matter where they go, Abby and Grace discover that in this era of social media --- when seemingly everyone is preserving every last detail of their lives online --- there is no real escape.
William Morrow * 9780062205742

RUIN FALLS by Jenny Milchman (Psychological Thriller)
When Liz Daniels discovers that her husband, Paul, has kidnapped their two children, she throws herself into the search for them. Her investigation uncovers a disturbing incident from Paul's past, and she begins receiving ominous threats, warning her to stay away. Liz digs deeper into his secrets --- only to discover that his plans are far more extreme than she ever could have imagined.
Ballantine Books * 9780345549075

THE SERPENT OF VENICE by Christopher Moore (Fiction)
Three prominent Venetians await their most loathsome and foul dinner guest, the erstwhile envoy from the Queen of Britain: the rascal-Fool Pocket. This trio of cunning plotters have lured Pocket to a dark dungeon, promising an evening of sprits and debauchery. But this Fool is no fool…and he has more than a few tricks (and hand gestures) up his sleeve.
William Morrow * 9780061779763

SOUL KEEPING: Caring for the Most Important Part of You by John Ortberg (Christian Life/Spiritual Growth)
The soul is the key to our lives, binding our heart, our mind, and our spirit together --- yet what is it, really? In SOUL KEEPING, John Ortberg takes a popular, story-filled approach to the subject of what our soul is and how we can care for it in a world that often forgets it exists in each one of us, waiting to be nurtured.
Zondervan * 9780310275961

THE TARGET by David Baldacci (Thriller)
The President knows it's a perilous, high-risk assignment. If he gives the order, he has the opportunity to take down a global menace, once and for all. If the mission fails, he would face certain impeachment, and the threats against the nation would multiply. So the president turns to the one team that can pull off the impossible: Will Robie and his partner, Jessica Reel.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455521203

THUNDERSTRUCK & OTHER STORIES by Elizabeth McCracken (Fiction/Short Stories)
At the center of Elizabeth McCracken's extraordinary stories is often a jagged space left by loss: a neighborhood is haunted by a child's ghost, a library staff grapples with the mystery of a patron's death, a corner store manager obsesses over a missing woman, a son absconds forever with his parents' savings. But equally present in this new story collection --- McCracken's first in 20 years --- are passion, charm, humor and joy.
The Dial Press * 9780385335775

'TIL THE WELL RUNS DRY by Lauren Francis-Sharma (Historical Fiction)
Young Marcia Garcia, a gifted and smart-mouthed 16-year-old seamstress, lives alone, raising two small boys and guarding a family secret. When she meets Farouk Karam, an ambitious young policeman, the risks and rewards in Marcia’s life amplify forever. The novel follows Marcia and Farouk from their amusing and passionate courtship through personal and historical events that threaten Marcia’s secret, entangle the couple and their children in a scandal, and endanger the future for all of them.
Henry Holt and Co. * 9780805098037

April 22nd

18 IN AMERICA: A Young Golfer's Epic Journey to Find the Essence of the Game by Dylan Dethier (Sports/Memoir)
Two months before his freshman year was set to begin, 17-year-old Dylan Dethier deferred admission to Williams College. With the reluctant blessing of his parents, he set out to play a round of golf in each of the lower 48 states. What began as the teenage wanderlust of a sheltered New England kid became a journey into America’s heart and soul, to “figure out where --- and why --- golf fit in” and what it means to be a young man today.
Scribner * 9781451693645

AFTER HER by Joyce Maynard (Fiction)
Loosely inspired by the Trailside Killer case that terrorized Marin County, California, in the late 1970s, AFTER HER is a poignant, suspenseful and painfully real family saga that traces a young girl's first explorations of sexuality, the loss of innocence, the bond shared by sisters, and the tender but damaged relationship between a girl and her father that endures even beyond the grave.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062257406

THE CIRCLE by Dave Eggers (Dystopian/Techno-thriller)
When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful Internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime --- even as life beyond work grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken. What begins as the captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.
Vintage * 9780345807298

THE COLOR MASTER: Stories by Aimee Bender (Fiction/Short Stories)
This latest volume of tales by the bestselling author of THE PARTICULAR SADNESS OF LEMON CAKE features characters who pursue connections through love, sex and family, including a golden-haired girl who appears in an orchard to apple-eating attendants, a woman who cannot resume normal life after sharing a fantasy with her husband, and an unattractive woman who stays with her ogre husband after he accidentally eats their children.
Anchor * 9780307744197

THE EDGE OF THE EARTH by Christina Schwarz (Historical Fiction)
Trudy has been raised to marry her childhood friend and assume a life of bourgeois comfort in Milwaukee. She knows she should be pleased, but is restless instead, yearning for something she lacks even the vocabulary to articulate. When she falls in love with enigmatic and ambitious Oskar, she believes she has found her escape from the banality of her preordained life. But escape turns out to be more fraught than Trudy had imagined.
Washington Square Press * 9781451683707

THE END OF THE POINT by Elizabeth Graver (Fiction)
Ashaunt Point has provided sanctuary and anchored life for generations of the Porter family. But in 1942, the U.S. Army arrives on the Point, bringing havoc and change. As the decades pass, Helen and then her son Charlie return to the Point, seeking refuge from the chaos of rapidly changing times. But Ashaunt is not entirely removed from events unfolding beyond its borders, and neither Charlie nor his mother can escape the long shadow of history.
Harper Perennial * 9780062184856

GONE: A Michael Bennett Novel by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Thriller)
Detective Michael Bennett once managed to put charismatic and ruthless leader Manuel Perrine behind bars, the only official in the US ever to accomplish that. But now Perrine is out, and he has sworn to find and kill Bennett and everyone dear to him. He begins to embark on an escalating series of assassinations across the country, killings whose brazenness and audacity bring into question the possibility of safety and law in the US.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455515844

GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn (Thriller)
On a summer morning in Missouri, Nick and Amy Dunne are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary. Or they would be, if Amy hadn't disappeared from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. As the cops close in and the stream of lies, deceits and inappropriate behavior leaks out, everyone in town is wondering how well they know the one that they love. Did Nick kill his clever and beautiful wife? If not, who did?
Broadway Books * 9780307588371

THE GOOD DAD: Becoming the Father You Were Meant to Be by Jim Daly (Parenting)
Paperback Original
Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family, is an expert in fatherhood --- in part because his own "fathers" failed him so badly. His biological dad was an alcoholic, his stepfather deserted him, and his foster father accused Jim of trying to kill him. Using his own expertise, humor and inexhaustible wealth of stories, Jim will show you that God can make you a good dad, a great dad, in spite of the way you've grown up and in spite of the mistakes you've made.
Zondervan * 9780310331797

HUNTED by Karen Robards (Romantic Suspense)
Caroline Wallace is one of New Orleans PD’s top hostage negotiators, and she’s never failed to get every hostage out alive. But this time, it’s different. This time, the hostages include her boss --- the chief of police --- and the mayor. And this time, she’s trying to negotiate with Reed Ware, a former co-worker who left the force disgraced, under investigation by Internal Affairs, and worst of all, considered to be volatile and extremely dangerous.
Pocket Books * 9781451678734

THE INFATUATIONS by Javier Marias (Metaphysical Mystery)
María Dolz eats breakfast every morning in the same café as an elegant husband and wife with whom she has never spoken. She knows nothing about them, not even their names. When they fail to show up one morning, she reads in the newspaper later that day that the man has been murdered, the victim of an apparently random attack. THE INFATUATIONS is a brilliant meditation on fate and the vagaries of desire.
Vintage * 9780307950734

THE LAST TIME I SAW YOU by Eleanor Moran (Fiction)
Paperback Original
When Olivia Berrington gets the call to tell her that her best friend from college has been killed in a car crash in New York, her life is turned upside down. Her relationship with Sally was an exhilarating roller coaster, until a shocking betrayal drove them apart. As questions mount about the fatal accident, Olivia is forced to go back and unravel their tangled history. But as Sally’s secrets start to spill out, Olivia is left asking herself if the past is best kept buried.
Quercus * 9781623651336

THE LEVIATHAN EFFECT by James Lilliefors (Thriller)
THE LEVIATHAN EFFECT is a thriller that poses the frighteningly real question: In this age of weather technology and global warming, what if a Category 5 hurricane was a weapon of international warfare? Only the Homeland Security secretary and an ex-CIA agent stand in the way of a terrorist attack on American soil that could have devastating impact.
Soho Crime * 9781616953621

THE LIGHT IN THE RUINS by Chris Bohjalian (Historical Fiction)
It's 1943 and the Rosatis, an Italian family of noble lineage, believe that the walls of their ancient villa will keep them safe from the war raging across Europe. Twelve years later, Serafina Bettini, an investigator with the Florence police department, is assigned to a gruesome case --- a serial killer targeting the Rosatis, murdering the remnants of the family one-by-one in cold blood. She finds herself digging into a past that involves both the victims and her own tragic history.
Vintage * 9780307743923

MAYA'S NOTEBOOK by Isabel Allende (Fiction)
Neglected by her parents, 19-year-old Maya Nidal has grown up in a rambling old house in Berkeley with her grandparents. When her grandfather dies of cancer, Maya turns to drugs, alcohol and petty crime. Her one chance for survival is Nini, who helps her escape to a remote island off the coast of Chile. Here Maya tries to make sense of the past, unravels mysterious truths about life and about her family, and embarks on her greatest adventure: the journey into her own soul.
Harper Perennial * 9780062105639

SKINNER by Charlie Huston (Thriller)
Skinner was the CIA's best choice for "asset protection," or at least he was until his handlers started to fear him just as much as his enemies did and banished him to the hinterlands of the intelligence community. Now, an ornate cyber-terrorist attack draws Skinner back into the fray. His asset is a roboticist named Jae, an expert in the new era of global guerrilla warfare. If Skinner fails now, the balance of power around the world could tip in a perilous new direction.
Mulholland Books * 9780316133708