New Fiction     September  2010

Deceptions: A Jamestown Novel, by Marilyn J. Clay

From Booklist--If the letter had arrived just one day later, there would have been nothing Catherine Parke could have done. The letter was from her father, who, along with her brother Adam and her beau, Noah Colton, left England for the New World six years ago. Catherine's father now wants her to join them, but the very next day, Catherine's guardians arrange for her to marry a wealthy London merchant. Fortunately, a chance meeting with Princess Pocahontas, who is visiting London, gives Catherine the means to set sail for Jamestown. Once Catherine arrives in the colony, she discovers her father is dead, and Noah, who had promised to wait for her, is married to another woman. With her dreams for a new life as Noah's wife crumbling around her, Catherine realizes it's up to her to survive in the New World. A surfeit of fascinating historical details and a refreshingly different setting give Deceptions its unique flavor, making Clay's novel perfect for readers who miss the romance-tinged historical novels of Rosalind Laker. --John Charles     Call # F Clay

 The BrazenBride, by Stephanie Laurens

USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Laurens adds a dynamic, sweeping tale to her extraordinary adventures.  They're bold, courageous, resolute . . . ex-officers of the Crown united against a deadly traitor known only as the Black Cobra.  Shipwrecked, wounded, he risks all to pursue his mission—only to discover a partner as daring and brazen as he.  Fiery, tempestuous, a queen in her own realm, she rescues a warrior—only to find her heart under siege.  Bound by passion, linked by need, together they must brave the enemy's gauntlet to win all their hearts' desire.  Call # LT F Laur

 I Curse the River of Time, by Per Petterson

From Booklist--Europe 1989. As communism crumbles, 37-year-old Norwegian Arvid Jansen’s life is falling apart. He’s getting a divorce, and his mother is dying of cancer. She’s traveled to her native Denmark, where she plans to live out her days. Though mother and son shared a passion for books, they were never close, and Arvid follows her there in one last attempt to connect. This is also the land of his childhood, and every place he goes triggers memories. He indulges recollections of past loves, beach vacations with his brothers, and time spent as a young Communist working in a factory. (He dropped out of college, much to his mother’s chagrin.) Norwegian novelist Petterson (Out Stealing Horses, 2007) deftly alternates between present and past, as Arvid searches for purpose in his life. There are autobiographical elements at work here; Petterson’s own mother was a voracious reader who considered him intellectually lazy because he didn’t speak German. Petterson’s plot is a bit sluggish, but his prose is eloquent and spare. A bleak but involving novel that will appeal to readers of character-driven literary fiction. --Allison Block  Call # F Pett

  The Third Bear, by Jeff Vandermeer

From Publishers Weekly--VanderMeer's seventh collection (after Secret Lives) is a fine introduction to one of our very best contemporary practitioners of the fantastic. In the dark "The Third Bear," an isolated medieval town is beset by a monster that uses the bodies of its victims to create a grisly work of art. "Finding Sonoria" concerns a down-on-his-luck PI hired to find a country that issued a postage stamp but apparently does not exist. The intensely surreal "The Situation" takes place in a company torn by bizarre office politics and dedicated to body modification and the construction of beetles and flying manta rays. "The Goat Variations" is a sophisticated alternate history in which a newly elected U.S. president is briefed on a startling scientific breakthrough with origins not of this world. Fans of slipstream and the interstitial will relish VanderMeer's superb prose, overwhelmingly odd situations, and fascinating, eccentric characters.  Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.  Call # F Vand

  The Four Fingers of Death, by Rick Moody

From Booklist--This gargantuan comic novel comes with a high concept and a complicated backstory. In the year 2025, Montese Crandall has won the rights to pen a novelization of the remake of the 1963 drive-in classic The Crawling Arm. His resulting opus first describes a mission to Mars that goes disastrously awry when the astronauts sink into drug addiction, inappropriate sex, and murder. The lone astronaut to make it back to earth, realizing that he is infected with deadly Martian bacteria, blows up his spaceship. All that remains is his crawling, infected arm, which proceeds to make its way across a blighted Arizona. Moody’s outrageous plot reflects his love of cheesy science fiction and allows him to tweak the conventions of the genre while also launching acerbic commentary on a future U.S. in which gated communities have seceded from a nation reeling from pollution, crime, and a “parboiled” economy. While he’s at it, he also fleshes out dozens and dozens of characters, including a chimpanzee, and has a great time channeling angst-ridden teen-speak as well as the bureaucratese of mid-level NASA administrators. The novel may prove to be an exhausting experience for fans of Moody’s early books; instead, it reads like the giddy creation of the bastard child of the two Toms—that would be Robbins and Pynchon. --Joanne Wilkinson    Call # F Mood

  Herb ‘n’ Lorna, by Eric Kraft

From Publishers Weekly--"Fans of Kraft's serial novel The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences and Observations of Peter Leroy will send up a cheer at their hero's return and his rollicking, fond story" about his grandparents and their secret passion--erotic arts and crafts. PW called this a "wise and humorous, affectionate and witty novel."

From The Washington Post--"Herb 'n' Lorna is the happiest of books--not to mention the sexiest...The kind of sweetness and passion and laughter Kraft draws from these ordinary lives is rare and enduring."  Call # F Kraf

  Sea Escape, by Lynne Griffin

From Booklist--When her estranged mother, Helen, suffers a stroke, Laura Martinez must return to the home Helen secluded herself in after her husband Joseph's death. In an effort to convince Helen to keep on fighting for her life, Laura reads the old love letters from Joseph to her mother, hoping that his words will be enough to save her life. However, as the letters reveal more and more about her family's history, Laura discovers that they have more in common than she thought. This makes her even more determined to help Helen so that they can forgive each other and repair their broken relationship. Griffin alternates between Laura's present-day story and her mother's romance during the Vietnam War to demonstrate that despite their estrangement, these women share struggles, secrets, insecurities, and passions. Not to mention that a deep family mystery makes this a fully engaging read. --Claire Orphan   Call # F Grif

  A Mighty Fortress, by David Weber

From Booklist--No one can doubt where the title of Weber’s new novel of the planet Safehold comes from, nor, reading it, be surprised that Cayleb Ahrmahk is happy as a grig (Middle English word; look it up) to be the greatest naval hero in Safehold history and husband of the beautiful Queen Sharleyan, hence co-ruler of the Charisian Empire. The Church of God Awaiting, however, is determined to bring the whole planet of Safehold under its sway, with disastrous implications for the survival of humanity. It is even prepared to take to the high seas with a vast armada using technology that centuries of effort have been spent trying to limit. Cayleb still has the warrior monk Merlin at hand, however, and it begins to look as though the latter isn’t the only echo of the Matter of Britain in this saga that combines superb action sf elements and (surprise!) homage to the great novels of the Age of Fighting Sail (by C. S. Forester, Patrick O’Brian, and their ilk). Weber has an enormous audience that welcomes each enormous book because Weber’s very real wit manages to do very well without the assistance of brevity. --Roland Green  Call #  F Webe

  Rides a Stranger: The Journey of Jim Glass, by Bill Brooks

Coffin Flats, New Mexico, is a nothing town in the middle of nowhere—which suits Jim Glass just fine. Looking for any job, he's courted by the local brothel owner—because Jim is good with his fists as well as his gun—but instead he is hired by Marshal Chalk Bronson.

A hothead named Johnny Waco is threatening to burn Coffin Flats down if his runaway wife's not returned to him—a lady who loved Marshal Bronson until fate and war separated them. Now Glass has a plan that could make things right . . . or far worse than they are already—the worst kind of scheme that could pull the drifter into a world of killers and heartbreak . . . and toward a destiny full of dying. 
Call # LT F Broo

  The Queen of Palmyra, by Minrose Gwin

From Booklist--Like Kathryn Stockett’s superhot The Help (2009), The Queen of Palmyra is set in 1960s Mississippi and deals with a segregated society in which black women are paid poorly to raise white people’s children. And like the popular Secret Life of Bees (2002), by Sue Monk Kidd, it is narrated by a confused young girl who can barely process the traumatic events she sees but does not understand. Florence’s abusive father sells burial insurance to black folks who can hardly afford it, and her beleaguered mother drinks as she bakes and sells cakes to shore up the family’s precarious finances. Amid the oppressive heat of summer in 1963 in the small town of Millwood, the neglected Florence is constantly shuttled between her grandparents and their longtime black maid, Zenie, with whom she meets Zenie’s niece, college student Eva Greene. When Eva begins selling burial insurance to pay for her education, simmering racial tensions erupt, and Florence becomes a witness to unspeakable crimes. First-novelist Gwin employs an offbeat, stream-of-consciousness style in this atmospheric depiction of racial hatred in the Deep South. --Joanne Wilkinson 
Call # LT F Gwin

New Nonfiction     September  2010
 

The Sane Woman’s Guide to Raising a Large family, by Mary Ostyn

Have you ever seen a mom with kids hanging all over her heaped-up grocery cart and marveled at how she juggles it all? Have you ever wondered if you could do it? A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family is written from the practical, experienced perspective of a mother of ten. It has thoughtful, helpful answers to important questions, such as:

Can a parent meet the needs of multiple children without drowning in sheer neediness? How can a moderate income stretch to include more children? How can you make space in your home work for you? What are some ideas for handling mountains of laundry? How can you preserve time for yourself and your marriage? How can you manage multiple children and their activities? Whether your idea of a big family is three kids or ten, this fresh, commonsense approach to parenting will help you find peace of mind and joy in a big bustling household, and, most importantly, learn how a child can feel deeply cherished as an individual.

Mary Ostyn is founder of Owlhaven (http://owlhaven.net), a hugely popular place to share parenting tips and funny mothering moments. She has been published in Chicken Soup for the Expectant Mother's Soul and in several magazines, including Christian Parenting Today, Adoption Today, and Adoptive Families. As mom to ten children-six of whom are adopted-she is a writer for Workitmom.com (http://workitmom.com). She lives with her family in Nampa, Idaho.  
Call # 649.1 Osty

  Single-Minded Devotion: Reflections for the Single Journey, by Michelle Mckinney Hammond

Well-known singles advocate and bestselling author Hammond brings her unique style to this creative devotional, inviting singles to focus on the joys of life.  She shows how they can deepen their relationship with God and explore solutions to everyday issues they face, including the longing for loving relationships.  Call # LT 242.84 McKi

 Reggie Jackson: The Life and Thunderous Career of Baseball’s Mr. October, by Dayn Perry

From Booklist--While this is a fairly pedestrian biography of Hall-of-Fame slugger Reggie Jackson, it appears to be the first published for adult readers since Jackson retired after the 1987 season. Perry, a columnist for FoxSports.com, touches all the bases, including Jackson's tough but not racially or economically oppressive Pennsylvania childhood, his baseball career at Arizona State University, and his great if tumultuous years with the Oakland A's and the New York Yankees—along with his bitter feuds with those teams' owners, Charles O. Finley and George Steinbrenner, respectively. Perry teases out the combustible, contradictory, provocative aspects of Jackson's personality—not to mention his talent for demolishing a baseball—that still make him such an irresistible personality to this day. A solid companion to last year's well-received Sixty Feet, Six Inches, a book-length conversation between Jackson and Hall-of-Fame pitcher Bob Gibson. --Alan Moores   Call # LT B Jack

  The Language of Love and Respect: Cracking the Communication Code with Your Mate, by Dr Emerson Eggerichs

Finally an answer for the number one problem in marriages—communication!  This analysis of the vital principles of cross-gender communication helps couples recognize they speak two different languages.  Most advice on the subject fails to understand that husbands and wives are wired differently and when wires get crossed, sparks can fly! Dr. Eggerich’s bestselling book, Love and Respect, launched a revolution in how couples relate to each other.  In The Language of Love and Respect he shares how that message can be applied.  Call # LT 248.8 Egge

  Hamlet’s Blackberry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age, by William Powers

From Publishers Weekly--Our discombobulated Internet Age could learn important new tricks from some very old thinkers, according to this incisive critique of online life and its discontents. Journalist Powers bemoans the reigning dogma of digital maximalism that requires us to divide our attention between ever more e-mails, text messages, cellphone calls, video streams, and blinking banners, resulting, he argues, in lowered productivity and a distracted life devoid of meaning and depth. In a nifty and refreshing turn, he looks to ideas of the past for remedies to this hyper-modern predicament: to Plato, who analyzed the transition from the ancient technology of talking to the cutting-edge gadgetry of written scrolls; to Shakespeare, who gave Hamlet the latest in Elizabethan information apps, an erasable notebook; to Thoreau, who carved out solitary spaces amid the press of telegraphs and railroads. The author sometimes lapses into mysticism—In solitude we meet not just ourselves but all other selves—and his solutions, like the weekend-long Internet Sabbaths he and his wife decreed for their family, are small-bore. But Powers deftly blends an appreciation of the advantages of information technology and a shrewd assessment of its pitfalls into a compelling call to disconnect.  Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.   Call # 303.4833 Powe

 The Bomb, by Howard Zinn

As a World War II combat soldier, Howard Zinn took part in the aerial bombing of Royan, France. Two decades later, he was invited to visit Hiroshima and meet survivors of the atomic attack. In this short and powerful book, Zinn offers his deep personal reflections and political analysis of these events, their consequences, and the profound influence they had in transforming him from an order-taking combat soldier to one of our greatest anti-authoritarian, antiwar historians. This book was finalized just prior to Zinn's passing in January 2010, and is published on the sixty-fifth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.   Call # 940.54 Zinn

  Foxy: My Life ion Three Acts, by Pam Grier

From Booklist--As the queen of the 1970s blaxploitation movies, Grier stands assured that her as-told-to autobiography will be welcomed by film-studies collections high and low. Iconic for her roles in such gems of the genre as Coffy and Foxy Brown, Grier has also appeared in mainstream films, the likes of Fort Apache the Bronx and Mars Attacks. Her blaxploitation efforts were made on shoestring budgets without much time for rehearsal or nuance, but when given a much meatier role—the title character in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown—she turned in a spectacular performance (unfortunately, that excellent film was overlooked in the wake of Tarantino’s signature work, Pulp Fiction). Grier describes making the low-budget films, in which she often portrayed a tough but beautiful woman involved in a ludicrous plot, and also such noncommercial events as her 1974 night out with John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, and Peter Lawford, during which she was ejected from the Troubadour, an “in” spot at the time, though at least in the company of pop-culture royalty. --Mike Tribby  
Call # LT B Grie

 Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success, by Matthew Syed

From Publishers Weekly--Syed, sportswriter and columnist for the London Times, takes a hard look at performance psychology, heavily influenced by his own ego-damaging but fruitful epiphany. At the age of 24, Syed became the #1 British table tennis player, an achievement he initially attributed to his superior speed and agility. But in retrospect, he realizes that a combination of advantages—a mentor, good facilities nearby, and lots of time to hone his skills—set him up perfectly to become a star performer. He admits his argument owes a debt to Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, but he aims to move one step beyond it, drawing on cognitive neuroscience research to explain how the body and mind are transformed by specialized practice. He takes on the myth of the child prodigy, emphasizing that Mozart, the Williams sisters, Tiger Woods, and Susan Polgar, the first female grandmaster, all had live-in coaches in the form of supportive parents who put them through a ton of early practice. Cogent discussions of the neuroscience of competition, including the placebo effect of irrational optimism, self-doubt, and superstitions, all lend credence to a compelling narrative; readers who gobbled up Freakonomics and Predictably Irrational will flock to this one.  Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.  Call # LT 650.1 Syed

  Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts, by Pam & Nicky Lintott

Jelly Roll, Layer Cake and Charm Quilts provides seventeen beautiful projects that show you how to get the most from pre-cut fabric bundles. The projects range from smaller lap quilts to full-sized bed quilts and each is made from one jelly roll, layer cake or charm pack (or a combination), making the quilts quick and economical. Using the latest fabrics, the authors provide a main quilt and an alternative color way for added versatility. Simple step-by-step instructions and illustrations make creating quilts from bundles fun and easy, regardless of your skill level.

Pam Lintott owns and runs The Quilt Room, one of Europe's largest specialist quilt shops. She was the compiling author of The Quilt Room: Patchwork and Quilting Workshops, published by Letts in the UK and Trafalgar in the US in 1992. Nicky Lintott is Pam's daughter, part-owner of The Quilt Room, and an excellent quilter in her own right. Pam and Nicky live in Dorking, Surrey. Their website is www.quiltroom.co.uk    Call # 746.46 Lint

 On Writing, by Jorge Luis Borges

Delve into the labyrinth of Jorge Luis Borges thought on the theory and practice of literature, and learn from one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century not only what a writer does but also what a writer is.  For the first time ever, here is a volume that brings together Borges’s wide-ranging reflections on writers, on the canon, on the craft of fiction and poetry, and on translation-an ars poetica of one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers.

Featuring many pieces appearing in English for the first time—including his groundbreaking early essay on magical realism, “Stories from Turkestan”—On Writing provides a map of both  the changes and continuities in Borges’s aesthetic over the course of his life.  It is an indispensable handbook for anyone hoping to master their own style or to witness Borges’s evolution as a writer.    Call # 864.62 Borg