October 14, 2014

October 21st

BEAUTIFUL YOU by Chuck Palahniuk (Fiction)
Penny Harrigan, a low-level associate in a big Manhattan law firm, discovers that she is a test subject for the final development of a line of sex toys to be marketed in a nationwide chain of boutiques called Beautiful You. So potent and effective are these devices that women by the millions line up outside the stores on opening day and then lock themselves in their room with them and stop coming out. C. Linus Maxwell's plan for erotically enabled world domination must be stopped. But how?
Doubleday * 9780385538039

BURNED: A Vanessa Pierson Novel by Valerie Plame and Sarah Lovett (Thriller)
Covert CIA ops officer Vanessa Pierson has dedicated her career to capturing one man: Bhoot, the world’s most notorious nuclear arms dealer. When she narrowly escapes death during a devastating explosion at the Louvre, Vanessa immediately suspects that Bhoot was the architect of the brazen terrorist attack. But when a previously unknown militant group claims responsibility for the bombing and promises even greater carnage, she is forced to rethink her initial assumptions.
Blue Rider Press * 9780399158216

GRAY MOUNTAIN by John Grisham (Legal Thriller)
Samantha Kofer’s career at a huge Wall Street law firm is on the fast track --- until the recession hits and she gets downsized. However, she is offered an opportunity to work at a legal aid clinic in Virginia for one year without pay, after which there would be a slim chance that she’d get her old job back. Samantha’s new job takes her into the murky and dangerous world of coal mining, and within weeks she finds herself engulfed in litigation that turns deadly.
Doubleday * 9780385537148

LAST WINTER WE PARTED by Fuminori Nakamura (Thriller)
A young writer is assigned a difficult task by his editor: he is to write an investigative biography of a death row inmate named Yudai Kiharazaka, a 35-year-old photographer who has been convicted of the murders of two women. Trying to unearth the truth about Kiharazaka forces the writer to grapple with horrifying archival material and to interview dangerous, grotesque people --- not least of all Kiharazaka himself.
Soho Press * 9781616954550

ON HIS OWN TERMS: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller by Richard Norton Smith (Biography)
Fourteen years in the making, Richard Norton Smith’s biography of the original Rockefeller Republican draws on thousands of newly available documents and over 200 interviews, including Nelson Rockefeller’s own unpublished reminiscences. In ON HIS OWN TERMS, Smith re-creates Rockefeller’s improbable rise to the governor’s mansion, his politically disastrous divorce and remarriage, and his often surprising relationships with presidents and political leaders.
Random House * 9780375505805

THE PIERCED HEART by Lynn Shepherd (Mystery)
THE PIERCED HEART finds Detective Charles Maddox traveling to the remote castle of the enigmatic Baron Von Reisenberg, a pioneering scientist with a terrible secret. Meanwhile, London is in the throes of a series of brutal murders, executed by a mysterious killer known only as "The Vampire." What is the connection between the Baron and the murders? And what does the journal of a young theater assistant named Lucy have to do with it all? Maddox must find out.
Delacorte Press * 9780345545435

REBELLION: The History of England from James I to the Glorious Revolution by Peter Ackroyd (History)
The third volume of Peter Ackroyd's The History of England covers the Stuart dynasty, which brought together England and Scotland, during a period marked by civil war and the killing of a king. Ackroyd tells the story of the turbulent 17th century, in which England suffered through three civil wars --- two fought between Parliament and both Charles I and Charles II, and, finally, the "Glorious Rebellion of 1688," which saw Charles II’s brother James deposed and sent into exile.
Thomas Dunne Books * 9781250003638

THE REPUBLIC OF IMAGINATION: America in Three Books by Azar Nafisi (Memoir/Literary Criticism)
Taking her cue from a challenge thrown to her in Seattle, where a skeptical reader told her that Americans don’t care about books the way they did back in Iran, Azar Nafisi energetically responds to those who say fiction has nothing to teach us. Blending memoir and polemic with close readings of her favorite American novels, Nafisi invites us to join her as citizens of her “Republic of Imagination,” a country where the villains are conformity and orthodoxy and the only passport to entry is a free mind and a willingness to dream.
Viking Adult * 9780670026067

SAVING BABY: How One Woman's Love for a Racehorse Led Her to Redemption by Lawrence Lindner and Jo Anne Normile (Memoir)
Horseracing had always come across as a glamorous mix of mint juleps and celebrity, set against a backdrop of equine grace and speed. It was a vision that appealed to Jo Anne Normille. But she didn’t know about the indifference and corruption that runs rampant through the world of horse racing --- not until an accident on a poorly maintained track resulted in tragedy for her colt, Baby. As a result, Jo Anne founded the most successful horse rescue in the country, saving more horses than anyone else ever has.
St. Martin's Press * 9781250061195

SHOPAHOLIC TO THE STARS by Sophie Kinsella (Fiction)
Becky Bloomwood and her two-year-old daughter, Minnie, have relocated to L.A. to join Becky’s husband, Luke, who is there to handle PR for famous actress Sage Seymour. Becky really hopes to become a personal stylist --- Sage’s personal stylist --- if only Luke would set up an introduction. Then, unexpectedly, she is offered the chance to dress Sage’s archrival, and though things become a bit more complicated, it’s a dream come true. Suddenly Becky has everything she’s ever wanted. Or does she?
The Dial Press * 9780812993868

SOMETIMES THE WOLF by Urban Waite (Thriller)
After struggling with money troubles, Sheriff Patrick Drake ended up convicted of one of the biggest crimes in local history. Now, 12 years later, Patrick is on parole under the watchful eye of his son Bobby, who is a deputy sheriff. No matter how much distance he has tried to put between himself, his father, his grandfather and the past, small town minds can have very long memories. But trouble isn’t done with the Drakes --- and a terrifying threat boils up from Patrick’s old life. And this time, no one will be spared.
William Morrow * 9780062216915

VANISHING GRACE: What Ever Happened to the Good News? by Philip Yancey (Christian Life/Inspirational)
How can Christians offer grace in a way that is compelling to a jaded society? And how can they make a difference in a world that cries out in need? Philip Yancey aims this book at Christian readers, showing them how Christians have lost respect, influence and reputation in a newly post-Christian culture. He explores what may have contributed to hostility toward Evangelicals, especially in their mixing of faith and politics instead of embracing more grace-filled ways of presenting the gospel.
Zondervan * 9780310339328

WAIT FOR SIGNS: Twelve Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson (Mystery/Short Stories)
Ten years ago, Craig Johnson wrote one of the earliest appearances of the sheriff who would go on to star in his award-winning novels and the A&E hit series "Longmire." Each Christmas Eve thereafter, Johnson sent out a new story featuring an episode in Walt’s life that doesn’t appear in the books. WAIT FOR SIGNS collects those beloved stories --- and one entirely new story --- for the very first time in a single volume, regular trade hardcover.
Viking Adult * 9780525427919

WHY SUFFERING?: Finding Meaning and Comfort When Life Doesn't Make Sense by Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale (Theology/Apologetics)
Why would a loving and powerful God allow so much pain and suffering? In WHY SUFFERING?, Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale carefully walk you through a variety of responses that, considered together, provide a clear, comprehensive and convincing answer. Here is a book written with great respect for the complexity of the issue, recognizing that some who read it will be in the trenches of deep suffering themselves and others questioning the very existence of a loving God.
FaithWords * 9781455549702
 

October 23rd

THUNDER IN THE MOUNTAINS: A Portrait of American Gun Culture by Craig K. Collins (Memoir)
In this beautifully written and powerful memoir, author Craig K. Collins ushers readers down a remarkable path --- one that wends from the American frontier to present-day suburbia. Along the way, he explores the meaning of a history --- of his family’s and his country’s --- that is infused with the culture of the gun. Stops include an Indian massacre at Bad Axe, the siege of Vicksburg, the slaughter of buffalo in Montana, and the discovery of gold in a remote Nevada canyon.
Globe Pequot Press * 9781493003853