FICTION:
After the fire by Henning Mankell. Here is the story of an aging man whose quiet, solitary life on an isolated island off the coast of Sweden is turned upside down when the house he lives in catches fire.
Christy by Catherine Marshall. In 1912, a 19 year old girl leaves her comfortable home to teach school on an isolated cove in the great Smokey Mountains.
Deep freeze by John Sandford. Class reunions: a time for memories – good, bad, and, as Virgil Flowers is about to find out, deadly.
A column of fire by Ken Follett. A pair of lovers find themselves on opposite sides of a conflict while Queen Elizabeth fights to maintain her throne.
Every breath you take by Mary Higgins Clark. Laurie Moran investigates the murder of a wealthy widow who was pushed from the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In the midst of winter by Isabel Allende. Three very different people are bought together in a story that journeys from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Brazil.
It devours! by Joseph Fink. A female scientist investigates an unusual rumbling in an American Southwest desert and comes across a religious congregation planning a dangerous ritual.
Midnight line by Lee Child. Jack Reacher, in a small Wisconsin town, sees a class ring in a pawn shop from West Point 2005. He wonders what circumstances made the owner give it up and decides to find out and return it. Why not?
Near Haven by Matthew Sirois. A boat builder in rural Maine decides to hunker down in place when the world finds out that a comet that is streaking toward Earth is said to be both unavoidable and fatal for humanity.
The Noel diary by Richard Paul Evans. A romance writer delves into a stranger’s past when his estranged mother leaves her extremely stuffed house to him.
Paris in the present tense by Mark Helprin. A modern-day story of live, music, and death, with echoes of the Nazi retreat in World War II France.
The Paris Spy by Susan MacNeal. American-born spy Maggie Hope searches for her half-sister in Nazi-occupied France during World War II.
Pieces of happiness by Anne Ostby. A novel of 5 lifelong friends who, in their 60s, decide to live together on a cocoa farm in Fiji, where they not only start a chocolate business but strengthen their friendships and rediscover themselves.
The power by Naomi Alderman. Suddenly all over the world, teenage girls develop the ability to send an electric charge from the tips of their fingers.
Quick and dirty by Stuart Woods. The New York lawyer Stone Barrington is hired to recover a stolen Van Gogh painting.
The Rooster Bar by John Grisham. Three students at a sleazy for profit law school hope to expose the student loan baker who runs it.
The secret, book, and scone society by Ellery Adams. This is set within a quirky small-town club where the key to happiness, friendship – or solving a murder – can all be found within the pages of the right book.
The stolen marriage by Diane Chamberlain. This conveys a strong sense of daily life in the American South during World War II, and the concurrent devastation of the polio epidemic in a crime-tinged tale of a marriage of convenience.
The story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg. An emotionally powerful novel about 3 people who each lose the one they love most, only to find second chances where they least expect them.
Strange weather by Joe Hill. A quartet of novellas involving the horrific and the supernatural.
The tea girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See. This explores the lives of a Chinese mother and her daughter who has been adopted by an American couple.
Unrest by Sandra Heath. The story of 17 year old Annie, plucked from her comfortable existence in the American Midwest, to trave3l with her mom and siblings to join her lieutenant colonel father in Tehran, Iran in the late 1970s.
The Western Star by Craig Johnson. A modern Western that pays homage to Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.
The whole of the moon by Brian Rogers. These stories span the years from the late 1950s to the present, and the characters are bound by a fact unknown to them: they have each checked out the same public library copy of The Great Gatsby.
NEW MUSIC CDs:
Pacific Daydream by Weezer
Now by Shania Twain
Standards by Seal
The thrill of it all by Sam Smith
Dig your roots by Florida Georgia Line
Reputation by Taylor Swift
NEW DVDs:
Maudie (2017) starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke
American Gods (2017) starring Ian McShane
Chaplin (1992) starring Robert Downey Jr.
The fugitive (1993) starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones
Marvin’s Room (1996) starring Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro
Portrait of Jennie (1948) starring Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten.
NONFICTION:
Ali: a life by Jonathan Eig. The definitive bio of an American icon, from an author with unique access to Ali’s inner circle.
An American family by Khizr Khan. This inspiring memoir by the Muslim American Gold Star father and captivating DNC speaker is the story of one family’s pursuit of the American dream.
The apparitionists by Peter Manseau. A story of faith and fraud ink post-Civil War America, told through the lens of a photographer who claimed he could capture images of the dead.
Bobby Kennedy by Chris Matthews. The New York senator’s journey from his formative years to his tragic run for president.
Endurance by Scott Kelly. A stunning personal memoir from the astronaut and modern-day hero who spent a record-breaking year aboard the international Space Station. This is a candid account of his remarkable voyage, of the journeys that preceded it, and of his colorful and inspirational formative years.
Fire on the track by Roseanne Montillo. The inspiring and irresistible true story of Betty Robinson, and other women who broke barriers and finish-line ribbons in pursuit of Olympic Gold.
If you can doodle, you can paint by Diane Culhane. How to transform simple drawings into works of art.
The letters of Sylvia Plath, Vol. 1 by Sylvia Plath. A major literary event: the first volume in the definitive, complete collection of the letters of Plath – most never seen before.
Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. A bio of the Italian Renaissance polymath which connects his work in various disciplines.
Make yourself at home by Moorea Seal. A home design book that helps you discover how to style your home for a deeper sense of comfort.
Paperbacks from hell by Grady Hendrix. An affectionate, nostalgic, and unflinchingly funny celebration of the horror fiction boom of the 1970s and 1980s.
Renoir: an intimate biography by Barbara White. An in-depth bio of the French impressionist painter – ideal for readers seeking to delve deeply into his personality.
The shattered lens by Jonathan Alpeyrie. A war photographer’s true story of captivity and survival in Syria.
What to believe when you’re expecting by Jonathan Schaffir. A new look at old wives’ tales in pregnancy.
Notes from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, and New York Times Book Review