September 2, 2014

September 9th

13 HOURS: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi by Mitchell Zuckoff and the Annex Security Team (Current Affairs)
13 HOURS presents, for the first time ever, the true account of the events of September 11, 2012, when terrorists attacked the US State Department Special Mission Compound and a nearby CIA station called the Annex in Benghazi, Libya. A team of six American security operators fought to repel the attackers and protect the Americans stationed there. This is their personal account, never before told, of what happened during the 13 hours of that now-infamous attack.
Twelve * 9781455582273

BAND OF GIANTS: The Amateur Soldiers Who Won America's Independence by Jack Kelly (History)
BAND OF GIANTS brings to life the founders who fought for our independence in the Revolutionary War. Here, Jack Kelly captures the fraught condition of the war --- the bitterly divided populace, the lack of supplies, the repeated setbacks on the battlefield, and the appalling physical hardships. That these inexperienced warriors could take on and defeat the superpower of the day was one of the most remarkable feats in world history.
Palgrave Macmillan Trade * 9781137278777

BLOOD ON THE WATER: A William Monk Novel by Anne Perry (Historical Mystery)
William Monk is witness to the terrible bombing of an afternoon pleasure boat on the river that leaves 200 people dead. An Egyptian man is quickly caught, tried and sentenced to death --- and then just as swiftly murdered in prison. When evidence surfaces that proves the dead man innocent, the case is handed to Monk, who now must rely on his own memory of the event to help piece together what really happened.
Ballantine Books * 9780345548436

THE CHILDREN ACT by Ian McEwan (Fiction)
Fiona Maye is a leading High Court judge who presides over cases in the family court, but her professional success belies private sorrow and domestic strife. She is called on to try an urgent case: 17-year-old Adam is refusing for religious reasons the medical treatment that could save his life, and his devout parents echo his wishes. Should the secular court overrule sincerely expressed faith?
Nan A. Talese/Doubleday * 9780385539708

THE DISTANCE by Helen Giltrow (Thriller)
Charlotte Alton is an elegant socialite. But behind the locked doors of her sleek, high-security apartment in London's Docklands, she becomes Karla. She's the unseen figure who, for a commanding price, will cover a criminal's tracks. A perfectionist, she's only made one slip in her career --- several years ago, she revealed her face to a man named Simon Johanssen, an ex-special forces sniper turned killer-for-hire. Karla helped him disappear before deciding to retire her double life. Now, after a long absence, Johanssen has resurfaced with a job, and he needs Karla's help once again.
Doubleday * 9780385536998

THE DOG by Joseph O'Neill (Fiction)
Distraught by a breakup with his long-term girlfriend, the hero of Joseph O'Neill's latest novel leaves New York to take an unusual job in a strange desert metropolis. In a Dubai at the height of its self-invention as a futuristic Shangri-La, he struggles with his new position as the "family officer" of the capricious and very rich Batros family. And he struggles, even more helplessly, with the "doghouse," a seemingly inescapable condition of culpability in which he feels himself constantly trapped.
Pantheon * 9780307378231

DRAW IN THE DUNES: The 1969 Ryder Cup and the Finish That Shocked the World by Neil Sagebiel (Sports)
The definitive account of the landmark 1969 Ryder Cup in which Jack Nicklaus's startling concession of the final hole resulted in the first draw in the Cup’s history, DRAW IN THE DUNES is a story of personal and professional conflict, from the nervousness at the very beginning of the Ryder Cup --- when one man could not tee his golf ball --- to the nerve displayed by Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin, who battled each other up to the final moment of the final match.
Thomas Dunne Books * 9781250015952

FESTIVE IN DEATH by J. D. Robb (Mystery)
Personal trainer Trey Ziegler was in peak physical condition. If you didn’t count the kitchen knife in his well-toned chest. Lieutenant Eve Dallas soon discovers a lineup of women who’d been loved and left by the narcissistic gym rat. While Dallas sorts through the list of Ziegler’s enemies, she’s also dealing with her Christmas shopping list --- plus the guest list for her and her billionaire husband’s upcoming holiday bash.
Putnam Adult * 9780399164446

FIGHTING CHANCE: A Gregor Demarkian Novel by Jane Haddam (Mystery)
Gregor Demarkian grew up in the Armenian-American enclave in Philadelphia known as Cavanaugh Street. When Father Tibor Kasparian, his best friend and the most genuinely gentle soul he has ever met, is arrested on murder charges, it tears at the very foundation of Demarkian’s world. Demarkian is now a man possessed, and his one goal is to find out what really happened and who really is responsible for the murder with which Father Tibor is charged.
Minotaur Books * 9781250012357

FIVE DAYS LEFT by Julie Lawson Timmer (Fiction)
Mara Nichols is a successful lawyer, devoted wife and adoptive mother who has received a life-shattering diagnosis. Scott Coffman, a middle school teacher, has been fostering an eight-year-old boy while the boy’s mother serves a jail sentence. Scott and Mara both have five days left until they must say good-bye to the ones they love the most.
Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam * 9780399167348

THE KING’S CURSE by Philippa Gregory (Historical Fiction)
Margaret Pole is married off to a Lancaster supporter entrusted with the governorship of Wales. When Arthur, the young Prince of Wales, arrives with his bride Katherine of Aragon, Margaret soon becomes a trusted advisor and friend by hiding her own royal connections. Following Arthur’s death, Katherine marries his brother, Henry VIII. Margaret is summoned to court as the chief lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine, and must choose between the king and queen, between her faith or the theology of her new masters.
Touchstone * 9781451626117

LOVELY, DARK, DEEP: Stories by Joyce Carol Oates (Fiction/Short Stories)
LOVELY, DARK, DEEP is a collection of 10 mesmerizing stories from Joyce Carol Oates that maps the eerie darkness within us all. Fearful that her husband is “disappearing” from their life, a woman becomes obsessed with keeping him in her sight in “The Disappearing.” “A Book of Martyrs” reveals how the end of a pregnancy brings with it the end of a relationship. And in the title story, the elderly Robert Frost is visited by an interviewer, an unsettling young woman, who seems to know a good deal more about his life than she should.
Ecco * 9780062356949

THE MARCO EFFECT: A Department Q Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
All 15-year-old Marco Jameson wants is to become a Danish citizen and go to school like a normal teenager. But his uncle Zola forces the children of his gypsy clan to beg and steal for his personal gain. When Marco discovers a dead body, he goes on the run. Meanwhile, the last thing Detective Carl Mørck needs is for his assistants to pick up a missing persons case on a whim. But when he learns that a mysterious teen named Marco may have as much insight into the case as he has fear of the police, Carl is determined to solve the mystery and save the boy.
Dutton Adult * 9780525954026

THE MONOGRAM MURDERS: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah (Historical Mystery)
For the first time ever, the guardians of Agatha Christie’s legacy have approved a brand-new novel featuring Dame Agatha's most beloved creation: Hercule Poirot. In THE MONOGRAM MURDERS, Poirot plunges into a mystery set in 1920s London --- a diabolically clever puzzle that will test his brilliant skills while baffling and delighting longtime Christie fans and new generations of readers discovering him for the first time.
William Morrow * 9780062297211

THE MOOR’S ACCOUNT by Laila Lalami (Historical Fiction)
In 1527, the conquistador Pánfilo de Narváez sailed with a crew of 600 men and nearly a hundred horses. His goal was to claim what is now the Gulf Coast of the United States for the Spanish crown and, in the process, become as wealthy and famous as Hernán Cortés. Within a year there were only four survivors, all of whom would go on to make a journey across America that would transform them from proud conquistadores to humble servants, from fearful outcasts to faith healers.
Pantheon * 9780307911667

NEVERHOME by Laird Hunt (Historical Fiction)
She calls herself Ash, but that's not her real name. She is a farmer's faithful wife, but has left her husband to don the uniform of a Union soldier in the Civil War. NEVERHOME is a novel that tells the harrowing story of Ash Thompson during the battle for the South. Through bloodshed, hysteria and heartbreak, she becomes a hero, a folk legend, a madwoman and a traitor to the American cause.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316370134

PERFIDIA by James Ellroy (Historical Mystery)
America stands at the brink of World War II. Los Angeles has been a haven for loyal Japanese-Americans --- but now, war fever and race hate grip the city, and the Japanese internment begins. The hellish murder of a Japanese family summons three men and one woman. The investigation throws them together and rips them apart. The crime becomes a political storm center that illuminates these four driven souls --- comrades, rivals, lovers, history’s pawns.
Knopf * 9780307956996

PRINCE HARRY: Brother, Soldier, Son by Penny Junor (Biography)
Prince Harry, one of the most popular members of the British royal family, has had a colorful life. After losing his mother at 12 years old, he spent his teenage years making questionable choices under intense international media scrutiny. As he's grown, he has distinguished himself through military service, flying helicopters for the RAF. As he reaches his 30th birthday, Prince Harry is proving himself a prince of the people
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455549832

RAINEY ROYAL by Dylan Landis (Fiction)
Fourteen-year-old Rainey Royal lives with her father, a jazz musician with a cultish personality, in a now-decaying brownstone. Her mother has abandoned the family, and Rainey fends off advances from her father's best friend while trying desperately to nurture her own creative drives and build a substitute family. She's fighting to figure out how to put back in place the boundaries her life has knocked down, and struggling to learn how to be an artist and a person in a broken world.
Soho Press * 9781616954529

ROBERT B. PARKER’S BLIND SPOT: A Jesse Stone Novel by Reed Farrel Coleman (Mystery)
In Paradise, a young woman is found murdered, and her boyfriend --- a son of one of the town’s most prominent families --- is missing and presumed kidnapped. Though seemingly coincidental, there is a connection between a reunion of Jesse Stone’s old Triple-A team in New York City and the crimes back in Paradise. As Jesse, Molly and Suit hunt for the killer and for the missing son, it becomes clear that one of Jesse’s old teammates is intimately involved in the crimes.
Putnam Adult * 9780399169458

SO WE READ ON: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures by Maureen Corrigan (Literary Criticism)
Maureen Corrigan, the book critic for NPR's "Fresh Air," points out that, while THE GREAT GATSBY may be one of the most popular novels in America, many of us first read it when we were too young to fully comprehend its power. Offering a fresh perspective on what makes GATSBY so great and utterly unusual, SO WE READ ON takes us into archives, high school classrooms, and even out onto the Long Island Sound to explore the novel's hidden depths.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316230070

STATION ELEVEN by Emily St. John Mandel (Post-Apocalyptic Fiction)
One snowy night, a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. STATION ELEVEN charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor's first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet.
Knopf * 9780385353304

TOKYO KILL by Barry Lancet (Thriller/Adventure)
When an elderly World War II veteran shows up unannounced at Brodie Security begging for protection, Jim Brodie --- in Tokyo to hunt down a rare ink painting for a client --- agrees to provide a security detail until the man comes to his senses. Instead, a brutal murder rocks Brodie and his crew, sending them deep into the realm of the Triads, Chinese spies, kendo warriors, and an elusive group of killers whose treachery spans centuries --- and who will stop at nothing to complete their mission.
Simon & Schuster * 9781451691726

VAMPIRES OF MANHATTAN: The New Blue Bloods Coven by Melissa de la Cruz (Fantasy/Horror)
Melissa de la Cruz’s Blue Bloods immortals have matured and are now exposed to new challenges, new loves, new threats, and a haute, hot hipster lifestyle. It is 10 years after the great War with Lucifer, and the Coven has rebuilt. Leader of the Fallen, Oliver Hazard-Perry, plans to celebrate this prosperity by throwing a 400 Year Ball --- and all Blue Blood society will be there.
Hyperion * 9781401324711

WORLD ORDER by Henry Kissinger (Current Affairs/Politics)
Henry Kissinger offers in WORLD ORDER a deep meditation on the roots of international harmony and global disorder. Drawing on his experience as one of the foremost statesmen of the modern era, Kissinger now reveals his analysis of the ultimate challenge for the 21st century: how to build a shared international order in a world of divergent historical perspectives, violent conflict, proliferating technology and ideological extremism.
The Penguin Press * 9781594206146


September 10th

THE HUMAN AGE: The World Shaped By Us by Diane Ackerman (Social Science)
In THE HUMAN AGE, Diane Ackerman confronts the unprecedented reality that one prodigiously intelligent and meddlesome creature, Homo sapiens, is now the dominant force shaping the future of planet Earth. She takes us on an exhilarating journey through our new reality, introducing us to many of the people and ideas now creating --- perhaps saving --- our future and that of our fellow creatures.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393240740


September 11th

NOT FADE AWAY: A Memoir of Senses Lost and Found by Rebecca Alexander with Sascha Alper (Memoir)
Rebecca Alexander is a psychotherapist, a spin instructor, a volunteer and an athlete. She is also almost completely blind, with significantly deteriorated hearing. In NOT FADE AWAY, Rebecca charts her journey from a teenager who tried to hide her disabilities to a woman who is able to face the world exactly as she is. Even though Rebecca inhabits a gradually darkening world, she refuses to let that stop her from living life with joy and enthusiasm.
Gotham * 9781592408313

September 9th

ACCUSED: A Rosato & Associates Novel by Lisa Scottoline (Thriller)
Mary DiNunzio has just been promoted to partner and is about to take on her most unusual case yet, brought to the all-female law firm of Rosato & Associates by a 13-year-old genius with a penchant for beekeeping. Allegra Gardner’s sister, Fiona, was murdered six years ago, and it appeared that the accused, Lonnie Stall, was the culprit. But Allegra believes Lonnie is innocent and has been wrongly imprisoned.
St. Martin’s Griffin * 9781250054531

BLIND JUSTICE: A William Monk Novel by Anne Perry (Historical Mystery)
A charismatic minister has been accused of using the faith and gullibility of his congregation for his own financial gain. When the defense comes up with a witness whose testimony completely undermines the evidence, Judge Oliver Rathbone resorts to a desperate measure to force him to recant his statement. When the guilty verdict is announced, the minister and his family are found dead, Rathbone is arrested for blackmail, and William Monk and his wife must enter the fray to unravel the truth and set their friend free.
Ballantine Books * 9780345536723

BROWN DOG: Novellas by Jim Harrison (Fiction)
Brown Dog, a bawdy, reckless, down-on-his-luck Michigan Indian, has earned cult status with readers of Jim Harrison in the more than two decades since his first appearance. For the first time, BROWN DOG gathers all the Brown Dog novellas, including a never-published one, into a single volume --- the ideal introduction (or reintroduction) to Harrison’s irresistible Everyman.
Grove Press * 9780802122865

THE BULLY PULPIT: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin (History)
Doris Kearns Goodwin describes the broken friendship between Teddy Roosevelt and his chosen successor, William Howard Taft. With the help of the “muckraking” press, Roosevelt had wielded the Bully Pulpit to challenge and triumph over abusive monopolies, political bosses and corrupting money brokers. Roosevelt led a revolution that he bequeathed to Taft only to see it compromised as Taft surrendered to money men and big business.
Simon & Schuster * 9781416547877

JEEVES AND THE WEDDING BELLS by Sebastian Faulks (Fiction)
Bertie Wooster (a young man about town) and his butler Jeeves (the very model of the modern manservant) return in their first new novel in nearly 40 years. P.G. Wodehouse documented the lives of the inimitable Jeeves and Wooster for nearly 60 years, from their first appearance in 1915 to his final completed novel in 1974. Now, four decades later, Bertie and Jeeves return in a hilarious affair of mix-ups and mishaps.
St. Martin’s Griffin * 9781250049063

KING’S MOUNTAIN: A Ballad Novel by Sharyn McCrumb (Historical Fiction)
John Sevier had not taken much interest in the American Revolution, since he was too busy fighting Indians in the Carolinas and taming the wilderness. But when an arrogant British officer threatened his settlement --- promising to burn the farms and kill families --- the war became personal. That arrogant officer is Patrick Ferguson of the British Army. Inventor of the Ferguson rifle and the devoted lover to his mistress, Virginia Sal, Patrick becomes a delightful anti-hero.
St. Martin’s Griffin * 9781250011411

THE MAID'S VERSION by Daniel Woodrell (Historical Fiction)
Alma DeGeer Dunahew, the mother of three young boys, works as the maid for a prominent citizen and his family in West Table, Missouri. Her husband is mostly absent, and, in 1929, her scandalous, beloved younger sister is one of the 42 killed in an explosion at the local dance hall. Who is to blame? Alma thinks she knows the answer --- and that its roots lie in a dangerous love affair.
Back Bay Books * 9780316205887

THE PERFECT SCORE PROJECT: One Mother's Journey to Uncover the Secrets of the SAT by Debbie Stier (Memoir/Education)
These days, high SAT scores are seen as the ticket to a good college, merit aid, and ultimately a successful life. Yet for parents, the torment of cajoling kids into studying is made worse by the tangle of conflicting advice about how best to prepare. Debbie Stier made it her mission to cut through that tangle and ace the SAT. As part of her quest, Debbie took the SAT seven times, sampled test-prep methods, and bonded with her test-taking teenage son.
Harmony * 9780307956682

A PERMANENT MEMBER OF THE FAMILY by Russell Banks (Fiction/Short Stories)
The 12 stories in A PERMANENT MEMBER OF THE FAMILY examine the myriad ways that we try --- and sometimes fail --- to connect with one another, as we seek a home in the world. The book charts with subtlety and precision the ebb and flow of both the families we make for ourselves and the ones we're born into, as it asks how we know the ones we love and, in turn, ourselves.
Ecco * 9780061857669

THE REDEEMER: An Inspector Harry Hole Novel by Jo Nesbø (Mystery/Thriller)
Shots ring out at a Salvation Army Christmas concert in Oslo, leaving one of the singers dead in the street. The trail will lead Harry Hole, Oslo’s best investigator and worst civil servant, deep into the darkest corners of the city and, eventually, to Croatia. An assassin forged in the war-torn region has been brought to Oslo to settle an old debt. As the police circle in, the killer becomes increasingly desperate and the danger mounts for Harry and his colleagues.
Vintage * 9780307742988

SWASTIKA NATION: Fritz Kuhn and the Rise and Fall of the German-American Bund by Arnie Bernstein (History)
In the late 1930s, the German–American Bund was a small but powerful national movement, determined to conquer the United States government with a fascist dictatorship. But while they dreamed of a Swastika Nation, politicians, a rising legal star, a newspaper columnist, and denizens of the criminal underworld utilized their respective means and muscle to bring down the movement and its dreams of a United Reich States.
Picador * 9781250056016