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Author Talk: Frederick Ramsay, author of Copper Kettle

Feb 9, 2017

Frederick Ramsay has authored mysteries set in Virginia (the Ike Schwartz Mysteries) and Botswana (PREDATORS, REAPERS), as well as a number of stand-alones. His latest, COPPER KETTLE, is set right after World War I and has war hero Jesse Sutherlin returning to his home a changed man. When a murder ignites an old family feud, Jesse must investigate before tensions come to a head. In this interview, Ramsay discusses his decision to go back in history with the Sutherlin family, who are featured prominently in his Ike Schwartz books. He also opens up about his research methods, how readers’ comments have affected his writing, and whether or not COPPER KETTLE will be expanded into its own series.

Week of February 27, 2017

Paperback releases for the week of February 27th include THE BLACK WIDOW, another spellbinding international thriller from Daniel Silva that finds art restorer, spy and assassin Gabrial Allon grappling  with an ISIS mastermind; MOST WANTED by Lisa Scottoline, a thriller that poses an ethical and moral dilemma: What would you do if the biological father of your unborn child was a killer?; SEX OBJECT, a memoir that reveals the painful, embarrassing and sometimes illegal moments that shaped Jessica Valenti’s adolescence and young adulthood in New York City; and THE FAMILY TREE, the provocative true account of the hanging of four black people by a white lynch mob in 1912, written by Karen Branan, the great-granddaughter of the sheriff charged with protecting them.

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Week of February 20, 2017

Paperback releases for the week of February 20th include Kathleen Grissom's GLORY OVER EVERYTHING, a heart-racing story about a man’s treacherous journey through the twists and turns of the Underground Railroad on a mission to save the boy he swore to protect; THREE SISTERS, THREE QUEENS by Philippa Gregory, the little-known story of three Tudor women who are united in sisterhood and yet compelled to be rivals when they fulfill their destinies as queens; THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR by Helen Simonson, a breathtaking novel of love on the eve of World War I that reaches far beyond the small English town in which it is set; and THE LEGENDS CLUB, the riveting inside story of college basketball's fiercest rivalry among three coaching legends --- University of North Carolina's Dean Smith, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, and North Carolina State's Jim Valvano --- from award-winning author and sportswriter John Feinstein.

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Ellen DeGeneres

Procrastination isn't the problem, it's the solution. So procrastinate now, don't put it off.

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Ellen DeGeneres

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

The Curies’ newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” are the luckiest alive --- until they begin to fall mysteriously ill. But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women’s cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America’s early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights that will echo for centuries to come.

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Elizabeth Brundage, author of All Things Cease to Appear

Late one winter afternoon in the small town of Chosen, New York, professor George Clare knocks on his neighbor’s door with terrible news: he returned from work to find his wife, Catherine, murdered in their bed. Once a thriving dairy farm, their home is haunted by the tragedy that left the former owner’s three sons orphaned and adrift.

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Fredrik Backman, author of Britt-Marie Was Here

When Britt-Marie walks out on her cheating husband and has to fend for herself, she is more than a little unprepared. Employed as the caretaker of a soon-to-be demolished recreation center, she finds herself being drawn into the daily doings of her fellow citizens, which includes a handsome local policeman whose romantic attentions to Britt-Marie are as unmistakable as they are unwanted. Most alarming of all, she’s given the impossible task of leading the supremely untalented children’s soccer team to victory.

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Anderson Cooper, author of The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss

Though Anderson Cooper has always considered himself close to his mother, his intensely busy career as a journalist for CNN and CBS affords him little time to spend with her. After she suffers a brief but serious illness at the age of 91, they resolve to change their relationship by beginning a year-long conversation unlike any they had ever had before. The result is a correspondence of surprising honesty and depth in which they discuss their lives, the things that matter to them, and what they still want to learn about each other.

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Week of February 13, 2017

Paperback releases for the week of February 13th include WILDE LAKE by Laura Lippman, in which the case of a mentally disturbed drifter accused of beating a woman to death brings up painful memories of prosecutor Luisa Brant's past; Jacqueline Winspear's JOURNEY TO MUNICH, which finds Maisie Dobbs being sent to Hitler’s Germany as she works with the British Secret Service on an undercover mission; NELLY DEAN, a novel by Alison Case that re-imagines life at Wuthering Heights through the eyes of the Earnshaws’ loyal servant; and THE BLACK CALHOUNS, in which Gail Lumet Buckley --- daughter of actress Lena Horne --- delves deep into her family history, detailing the experiences of an extraordinary African-American family from Civil War to Civil Rights.

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Taking a look back at book group titles that were popular over the last eight years (we selected three from each year), which have your book group read?

February 8, 2017, 419 voters