August 11, 2015

August 10th

MESS: One Man's Struggle to Clean Up His House and His Act by Barry Yourgrau (Memoir)
Millions of Americans struggle with severe clutter and hoarding. New York writer and bohemian Barry Yourgrau is one of them. Behind the door of his Queens apartment, Yourgrau’s life is, quite literally, chaos. Confronted by his exasperated girlfriend, a globe-trotting food critic, he embarks on a heartfelt, wide-ranging, and too often uproarious project to take control of his crammed, disorderly apartment and life, and to explore the wider world of collecting, clutter and extreme hoarding.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393241778


August 11th

THE BEAT GOES ON: The Complete Rebus Stories by Ian Rankin (Crime Fiction/Short Stories)
Brilliant, irascible, and frequently frustrating to both his friends and his long-suffering bosses, DI John Rebus has made the dark places of Edinburgh his home for over two decades. THE BEAT GOES ON collects all of Ian Rankin's Rebus short stories for the first time, including two never-before published tales written specifically for this collection. It’s a must-have book for crime fiction aficionados and a superb introduction for anyone looking to experience Rebus and the dark, twist-filled crimes he investigates.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316296830

THE BEAUTIFUL BUREAUCRAT by Helen Phillips (Literary Mystery)
In a windowless building in a remote part of town, the newly employed Josephine inputs an endless string of numbers into something known only as The Database. As a series of strange events build to a crescendo, the haunting truth about Josephine's work begins to take shape in her mind, even as something powerful is gathering its own form within her. She realizes that in order to save those she holds most dear, she must penetrate an institution whose tentacles seem to extend to every corner of the city and beyond.
Henry Holt and Co. * 9781627793766

BLACK-EYED SUSANS by Julia Heaberlin (Psychological Thriller)
As a 16-year-old, Tessa Cartwright was found in a Texas field, barely alive with only fragments of memory as to how she got there. Ever since, the press has pursued her as the lone surviving “Black-Eyed Susan.” Her testimony about those tragic hours put a man on death row. Now, almost two decades later, Tessa is shocked to discover a freshly planted patch of black-eyed susans just outside her bedroom window. As the clock ticks toward the execution, Tessa fears for her sanity, but even more for the safety of her teenaged daughter.
Ballantine Books * 9780804177993

COLLECTOR OF SECRETS by Richard Goodfellow (Thriller)
Max Travers, an English teacher in Japan, wants out, as his manipulative boss, Yoko, is trying to swindle the unsuspecting parents of his students. Desperate to seize his locked-up passport, he sneaks into Yoko's office in the middle of the night only to surprise the Japanese mafia's burglary in progress. Escaping with his life, Max is on the run from tattooed Yakuza, the Japanese police, and a mysterious American named Lloyd Elgin, who seems to have ties in high places. All are after the leather book Max grabbed instead of his passport.
Polis Books * 9781940610337

DEVIL'S BRIDGE by Linda Fairstein (Thriller)
The Manhattan waterfront is one of New York City’s most magnificent vistas, boasting both the majestic Statue of Liberty and the George Washington Bridge, the world’s busiest span for motor vehicles. But in DEVIL’S BRIDGE, Detective Mike Chapman will discover the peril that lurks along this seemingly benign expanse as he takes on his most personal case yet: the disappearance of Alex Cooper.
Dutton * 9780525953890

FOOL'S QUEST: Book II of the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy by Robin Hobb (Fantasy)
Long ago, Fitz and the Fool changed the world, bringing back the magic of dragons and securing both the Farseer succession and the stability of the kingdom. Or so they thought. But now the Fool is near death, maimed by mysterious pale-skinned figures whose plans for world domination hinge upon the powers the Fool may share with Fitz’s own daughter. In a horrible instant, though, Fitz’s world is undone and his beloved daughter stolen away by those who would use her as they had once sought to use the Fool --- as a weapon.
Del Rey * 9780553392920

IN THE DARK PLACES: An Inspector Banks Novel by Peter Robinson (Mystery/Thriller)
Two young men have vanished, and the investigation leads to two troubling clues in two different locations --- a scorched van and a peculiar bloodstain in an abandoned airport hangar. As Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his team scramble for answers, the inquiry takes an even darker turn when a truck careens off an icy road in a freak hailstorm. In the wreckage, rescuers find the driver, who was killed on impact, as well as another body --- a body that was dead well before the crash.
William Morrow * 9780062240545

IN THE LANGUAGE OF MIRACLES by Rajia Hassib (Fiction)
Emigrating from Egypt, Samir and Nagla Al-Menshawy were determined to live the American dream. After years of hard work, Samir set up his own medical practice and the family moved to an upscale New Jersey suburb. But when a devastating turn of events leaves their eldest son and their neighbors’ daughter dead, all their years of success begin to unravel. The Al-Menshawys become pariahs in the neighborhood, and whether through religion, work or friendship, each family member struggles to move forward in his or her own way.
Viking * 9780525428138

KATRINA: After the Flood by Gary Rivlin (Current Affairs/Economics)
Ten years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southeast Louisiana --- on August 29, 2005 --- journalist Gary Rivlin traces the storm’s immediate damage, the city of New Orleans’s efforts to rebuild itself, and the storm’s lasting effects not just on the city’s geography and infrastructure, but on the psychic, racial and social fabric of one of this nation’s great cities.
Simon & Schuster * 9781451692228

THE LIGHTNING STONES by Jack Du Brul (Thriller/Adventure)
Sinking thousands of feet below the surface of the earth in the Leister Deep copper mine in Minnesota, Philip Mercer rides a series of heavy-duty elevators to visit his old friend and mentor, Abraham Jacobs. Jacobs has led a research team to the deepest section of the mine for a groundbreaking study into climate change and cosmic rays. But as Mercer approaches the bottom, he discovers that his dear friend --- along with the entire research team --- have been efficiently executed. Mercer is left seeking answers…and revenge.
Doubleday * 9780385527750

THE RACE FOR PARIS by Meg Waite Clayton (Historical Fiction)
Encouraged by her husband, the editor of a New York newspaper, Liv is determined to be the first photographer to reach Paris with the Allies and capture its freedom from the Nazis. However, her Commanding Officer has other ideas about the role of women in the press corps. To fulfill her ambitions, Liv must go AWOL. She persuades her reporter friend Jane to join her, and the two women find a guardian angel in Fletcher, a British military photographer who reluctantly agrees to escort them.
Harper * 9780062354631

SILVER LININGS: A Rose Harbor Novel by Debbie Macomber (Romance)
Jo Marie Rose and her handyman, Mark Taylor, are good friends --- and are becoming something more --- yet he still won’t reveal anything about his past. When Mark tells her that he’s moving out of town, Jo Marie is baffled. As she discovers the secret behind his decision to leave, she welcomes two visitors also seeking their own answers. Best friends Kellie Crenshaw and Katie Gilroy have returned to Cedar Cove for their 10-year high school reunion, looking to face down old hurts and find a sense of closure.
Ballantine * 9780553391794

THE STATE WE'RE IN: Maine Stories by Ann Beattie (Fiction/Short Stories)
“We build worlds for ourselves wherever we go,” writes Ann Beattie. THE STATE WE’RE IN, her new collection of linked stories, is about how we live in the places we have chosen --- or been chosen by. It’s about the stories we tell our families, our friends and ourselves, the truths we may or may not see, how our affinities unite or repel us, and where we look for love.
Scribner * 9781501107818

THE STORM OF THE CENTURY: Tragedy, Heroism, Survival, and the Epic True Story of America's Deadliest Natural Disaster: The Great Gulf Hurricane of 1900 by Al Roker (History)
On the afternoon of September 8, 1900, 200-mile-per-hour winds and 15-foot waves slammed into Galveston, the prosperous and growing port city on Texas’s Gulf Coast. By dawn the next day, when the storm had passed, the city that existed just hours before was gone. Shattered, grief-stricken survivors emerged to witness a level of destruction never before seen: 8,000 corpses littered the streets and were buried under the massive wreckage. In less than 24 hours, one storm destroyed a major American metropolis --- and awakened a nation to the terrifying power of nature.
William Morrow * 9780062364654

TRAP by Robert K. Tanenbaum (Legal Thriller)
When a tremendous blast rocks an old school building in East Harlem during a meeting of the New York Charter Schools, killing six and wounding a dozen others, it’s initially blamed on a natural gas explosion. However, as Butch Karp digs a little deeper, he discovers the explosion was the work of a mysterious serial arsonist in the employ of the teacher’s union president. Also involved in the planning and cover-up is a major law enforcement player and a political hack who gets caught up in the homicidal scheme. At least that’s the conclusion Karp is operating under when he indicts the pair for murder. But is it a trap?
Gallery Books * 9781476793160

WHO DO YOU LOVE by Jennifer Weiner (Fiction)
Rachel Blum and Andy Landis are just eight years old when they meet one night in an ER waiting room. Born with a congenital heart defect, Rachel is a veteran of hospitals, and she’s intrigued by the boy who shows up alone with a broken arm. He tells her his name. She tells him a story. After Andy is taken back to a doctor and Rachel is sent back to her bed, they think they’ll never see each other again. Yet, over the next three decades, they will meet again and again --- linked by chance, history, and the memory of the first time they met, a night that changed the course of both of their lives.
Atria Books * 9781451617818

WORLD WITHOUT END: Spain, Philip II, and the First Global Empire by Hugh Thomas (History)
The legacy of imperial Spain was shaped by many hands. But the dramatic human story of the extraordinary projection of Spanish might in the second half of the 16th century has never been fully told --- until now. In WORLD WITHOUT END, Hugh Thomas chronicles the lives, loves, conflicts and conquests of the complex men and women who carved up the Americas for the glory of Spain.
Random House * 9780812998115

YOU'RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET (ALMOST): A Memoir by Felicia Day (Memoir)
Felicia Day is a violinist, filmmaker, Internet entrepreneur, compulsive gamer, hoagie specialist, and former lonely homeschooled girl who overcame her isolated childhood to become at least semi-influential in the world of Internet geeks and Goodreads book clubs. She moved to Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming an actress and was immediately typecast as a crazy cat-lady secretary. But her misadventures in Hollywood led her to produce her own web series, own her very own production company, and become an Internet star.
Touchstone * 9781476785653


August 15th

BROWSINGS: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living with Books by Michael Dirda (Literary Criticism/Essays)
Michael Dirda's latest volume collects 50 of his witty and wide-ranging reflections on literary journalism, book collecting, and the writers he loves. Reaching from the classics to the post-moderns, his allusions dance from Samuel Johnson, Ralph Waldo Emerson and M. F. K. Fisher to Marilynne Robinson, Hunter S. Thompson and David Foster Wallace. Dirda's topics are equally diverse: literary pets, the lost art of cursive writing, novelists in old age, Oberlin College, a year in Marseille, writer's block and much more, not to overlook a few rants about Washington life and American culture.
Pegasus * 9781605988443

THE DARKEST HEART by Dan Smith (Literary Thriller)
Leaving behind his life of violence in Brazil's darkest shadows, Zico is determined to become a better man. But it seems his old life isn't quite done with him yet when he's tasked with making one last kill. It's one that could get him everything he has ever wanted: a house, some land, cash in his pocket, a future for him and his girlfriend, Daniella. But this one isn't like all the others. This one comes at a much higher price.
Pegasus * 9781605988184

DEATH IN FLORENCE: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City by Paul Strathern (History)
By the end of the 15th century, Florence was well established as the home of the Renaissance. As generous patrons to the likes of Botticelli and Michelangelo, the ruling Medici embodied the progressive humanist spirit of the age, and in Lorenzo de' Medici they possessed a diplomat capable of guarding the militarily weak city in a climate of constantly shifting allegiances between the major Italian powers. However, in the form of Savonarola, an unprepossessing provincial monk, Lorenzo found his nemesis. The battle between these two men would be a fight to the death, a series of sensational events featuring a cast of the most important and charismatic Renaissance figures.
Pegasus * 9781605988269