“Romance novels are birthday cake and life is often peanut butter and jelly. I think everyone should have lots of delicious romance novels lying around for those times when the peanut butter of life gets stuck to the roof of your mouth.” –
SUSPENSE
The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson
The Evolution is Coming.
In 1967, an extraterrestrial microbe came crashing down to Earth and nearly ended the human race. Accidental exposure to the particle—designated The Andromeda Strain—killed every resident of the town of Piedmont, Arizona, save for an elderly man and an infant boy. Over the next five days, a team of top scientists assigned to Project Wildfire worked valiantly to save the world from an epidemic of unimaginable proportions. In the moments before a catastrophic nuclear detonation, they succeeded.
In the ensuing decades, research on the microparticle continued. And the world thought it was safe…
Deep inside Fairchild Air Force Base, Project Eternal Vigilance has continued to watch and wait for the Andromeda Strain to reappear. On the verge of being shut down, the project has registered no activity—until now. A Brazilian terrain-mapping drone has detected a bizarre anomaly of otherworldly matter in the middle of the jungle, and, worse yet, the tell-tale chemical signature of the deadly microparticle.
With this shocking discovery, the next-generation Project Wildfire is activated, and a diverse team of experts hailing from all over the world is dispatched to investigate the potentially apocalyptic threat.
But the microbe is growing—evolving. And if the Wildfire team can’t reach the quarantine zone, enter the anomaly, and figure out how to stop it, this new Andromeda Evolution will annihilate all life as we know it.
Description from Goodreads.
“Terrific… Deftly blends science, suspense, and character interaction in a way that will be familiar to Crichton’s fans… In every way, this is a wonderful sequel to a classic novel, written in the spirit of Crichton but in Wilson’s own powerful voice.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Wilson confidently captures the voice of the late Crichton in this chilling sequel to the 1969 blockbuster The Andromeda Strain… [and] employs his expertise to add depth and credibility to the advanced technology the scientists use… Fans of the original techno-thriller won’t be disappointed.” – Publishers Weekly
“…as exciting as Crichton’s original story… a fairly ingenious adventure.” – Washington Post
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook
Nothing More Dangerous by Allen Eskins
After fifteen years of growing up in the Ozark hills with his widowed mother, high-school freshman Boady Sanden is beyond ready to move on. He dreams of glass towers and cityscapes, driven by his desire to be anywhere other than Jessup, Missouri. The new kid at St. Ignatius High School, if he isn’t being pushed around, he is being completely ignored. Even his beloved woods, his playground as a child and his sanctuary as he grew older, seem to be closing in on him, suffocating him.
Then Thomas Elgin moves in across the road, and Boady’s life begins to twist and turn. Coming to know the Elgins-a black family settling into a community where notions of “us” and “them” carry the weight of history-forces Boady to rethink his understanding of the world he’s taken for granted. Secrets hidden in plain sight begin to unfold: the mother who wraps herself in the loss of her husband, the neighbor who carries the wounds of a mysterious past that he holds close, the quiet boss who is fighting his own hidden battle.
But the biggest secret of all is the disappearance of Lida Poe, the African-American woman who keeps the books at the local plastics factory. Word has it that Ms. Poe left town, along with a hundred thousand dollars of company money. Although Boady has never met the missing woman, he discovers that the threads of her life are woven into the deepest fabric of his world.
As the mystery of her fate plays out, Boady begins to see the stark lines of race and class that both bind and divide this small town, and he is forced to choose sides.
Description from Goodreads.
“The story is gripping… The characters are intriguing… Eskens weaves a fine mystery that involves layers of racial introspection… Eskens tells us in an author’s note that he started this book in 1991 and kept putting it away, never quite feeling it was ready. He can proudly pronounce it ready now.” – Minneapolis Star Tribune
“This powerful, unforgettable crime novel is a coming-of-age book to rival some of the best, such as William Kent Krueger’s Ordinary Grace or Larry Watson’s Montana 1948… This timely stand-alone is a must-read for followers of the best in crime fiction.” – Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Brilliant… full of deeply developed characters… [A] darkly lyrical and brutally intimate story.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
Available Formats:
Print Book
MYSTERY
Twisted Twenty-Six by Janet Evanovich
Grandma Mazur is a widow… again. This time her marriage lasted a whole 45 minutes. The unlucky groom was one Jimmy Rosolli, local gangster, lothario (senior division) and heart attack waiting to happen… well, the waiting’s over.
It’s a sad day, but if she can’t have Jimmy at least Grandma can have all the attention she wants as the dutiful widow. But some kinds of attention are not welcomed, particularly when Jimmy’s former “business partners” are convinced that his widow is keeping the keys to their financial success for herself.
As someone who has spent an entire career finding bad guys, a set of missing keys should be no challenge for Stephanie Plum. Problem is, the facts are as twisted as a boardwalk pretzel with mustard.
Description from Goodreads.
“This ongoing series… has always delivered exciting story lines with flat-out hilarious dialogue. This one is no exception… How Evanovich can continue to deliver consistent fun on the page is mind-boggling. Twisted Twenty-Six feels extra special by focusing on arguably the best character in the franchise plus an ending that highlights a significant change is coming. Fans and newcomers alike will finish the book with a big smile on their face.” – Associated Press
“These Stephanie Plum books are so much fun to read. They’re so well written with great characters… You don’t have to have read previous books to jump in now and join the party. You won’t be disappointed.” – Red Carpet Crash
Available Formats:
Print Book | Audiobook | Playaway | eBook | eAudiobook
HISTORICAL FICTION
Freedom Lessons by Eileen Harrison Sanchez
Told alternately, by Colleen, an idealistic young white teacher; Frank, a black high school football player; and Evelyn, an experienced black teacher, Freedom Lessons is the story of how the lives of these three very different people intersect in a rural Louisiana town in 1969.
Colleen enters into the culture of the rural Louisiana town with little knowledge of the customs and practices. She is compelled to take sides after the school is integrated—an overnight event for which the town’s residents are unprepared, and which leads to confusion and anxiety in the community—and her values are tested as she seeks to understand her black colleagues, particularly Evelyn. Why doesn’t she want to integrate the public schools? Frank, meanwhile, is determined to protect his mother and siblings after his father’s suspicious death—which means keeping a secret from everyone around him.
Based on the author’s experience teaching in Louisiana in the late sixties, this heartfelt, unflinching novel about the unexpected effects of school integration during that time takes on the issues our nation currently faces regarding race, unity, and identity.
Description from Goodreads.
“This powerful tale offers a beacon of hope that individuals can inspire change.” – Library Journal
“[A] potent illustration of the formidable obstacles to equality that remained―and persist―post-Brown v. Board of Education.” – Kirkus Reviews
Available Formats:
Hoopla eBook
NONFICTION
The Book of Eating: Adventures in Professional Gluttony by Adam Platt
As the son of a diplomat growing up in places like Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, Adam Platt didn’t have the chance to become a picky eater. Living, traveling, and eating in some of the most far-flung locations around the world, he developed an eclectic palate and a nuanced understanding of cultures and cuisines that led to some revelations which would prove important in his future career as a food critic. In Tokyo, for instance—“a kind of paradise for nose-to-tail cooking”—he learned that “if you’re interested in telling a story, a hair-raisingly bad meal is much better than a good one.”
From dim sum in Hong Kong to giant platters of Peking duck in Beijing, fresh-baked croissants in Paris and pierogi on the snowy streets of Moscow, Platt takes us around the world, re-tracing the steps of a unique, and lifelong, culinary education. Providing a glimpse into a life that has intertwined food and travel in exciting and unexpected ways, The Book of Eating is a delightful and sumptuous trip that is also the culinary coming-of-age of a voracious eater and his eventual ascension to become, as he puts it, “a professional glutton.”
Description from Goodreads.
“Gastronomes and fans of Platt will savor this behind-the-scenes look at real life as a restaurant critic in the big city.” – Publishers Weekly
“A candid, entertaining look at an often bizarre new gustatory landscape.” – Kirkus Reviews
“…[An] entertaining and honest account of restaurant journalism, and a life worth exploring.” – Booklist
Available Formats:
Print Book
Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge by Sheila Weller
In her 2008 bestseller, Girls Like Us, Sheila Weller—with heart and a profound feeling for the times—gave us a surprisingly intimate portrait of three icons: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon. Now she turns her focus to one of the most loved, brilliant, and iconoclastic women of our time: the actress, writer, daughter, and mother Carrie Fisher.
Weller traces Fisher’s life from her Hollywood royalty roots to her untimely and shattering death after Christmas 2016. Her mother was the spunky and adorable Debbie Reynolds; her father, the heartthrob crooner Eddie Fisher. When Eddie ran off with Elizabeth Taylor, the scandal thrust little Carrie Frances into a bizarre spotlight, gifting her with an irony and an aplomb that would resonate throughout her life.
We follow Fisher’s acting career, from her debut in Shampoo, the hit movie that defined mid-1970s Hollywood, to her seizing of the plum female role in Star Wars, which catapulted her to instant fame. We explore her long, complex relationship with Paul Simon and her relatively peaceful years with the talent agent Bryan Lourd. We witness her startling leap—on the heels of a near-fatal overdose—from actress to highly praised, bestselling author, the Dorothy Parker of her place and time.
Weller sympathetically reveals the conditions that Fisher lived with: serious bipolar disorder and an inherited drug addiction. Still, despite crises and overdoses, her life’s work—as an actor, a novelist and memoirist, a script doctor, a hostess, and a friend—was prodigious and unique. As one of her best friends said, “I almost wish the expression ‘one of a kind’ didn’t exist, because it applies to Carrie in a deeper way than it applies to others.”
Sourced by friends, colleagues, and witnesses to all stages of Fisher’s life, Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge is an empathic and even-handed portrayal of a woman who—as Princess Leia, but mostly as herself—was a feminist heroine, one who died at a time when we need her blazing, healing honesty more than ever.
Description from Goodreads.
“This in-depth, insightful, and profoundly sympathetic biography is built around the premise that Carrie Fisher was simply ‘famous just for being herself’… This is a worthy tribute to a strong, intelligent woman, and readers will appreciate Weller’s honest portrayal and thoughtful analysis.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Bestselling author Weller shares a heartfelt tribute to the late Carrie Fisher―a complex portrait of the actress, her struggles and her extraordinary singularity. A Life on the Edge is a fitting and beautiful homage to Fisher.” – Newsweek
“Drawing from exhaustive research and interviews, Weller closely analyzes all of [the] interrelated facets of Fisher’s story, from her countless accomplishments and vast social network to the disturbing side of her disorders. What emerges is a vivid and honest portrait of a brave, complex woman who had an impact on all who knew her. Extensive notes and a thoughtful introduction complement the absorbing narrative… Well written and poignant, this is a must for Fisher’s fans.” – Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
Available Formats:
Print Book
Joy of Cooking: 2019 Fully Revised and Updated Edition by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker, John Becker, & Megan Scott
In the nearly ninety years since Irma S. Rombauer self-published the first three thousand copies of Joy of Cooking in 1931, it has become the kitchen bible, with more than 20 million copies in print. This new edition of Joy has been thoroughly revised and expanded by Irma’s great-grandson John Becker and his wife, Megan Scott.
John and Megan developed more than six hundred new recipes for this edition, tested and tweaked thousands of classic recipes, and updated every section of every chapter to reflect the latest ingredients and techniques available to today’s home cooks. Their strategy for revising this edition was the same one Irma and Marion employed: Vet, research, and improve Joy’s coverage of legacy recipes while introducing new dishes, modern cooking techniques, and comprehensive information on ingredients now available at farmers’ markets and grocery stores.
You will find tried-and-true favorites like Banana Bread Cockaigne, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Southern Corn Bread—all retested and faithfully improved—as well as new favorites like Chana Masala, Beef Rendang, Megan’s Seeded Olive Oil Granola, and Smoked Pork Shoulder. In addition to a thoroughly modernized vegetable chapter, there are many more vegan and vegetarian recipes, including Caramelized Tamarind Tempeh, Crispy Pan-Fried Tofu, Spicy Chickpea Soup, and Roasted Mushroom Burgers. Joy’s baking chapters now include gram weights for accuracy, along with a refreshed lineup of baked goods like Cannelés de Bordeaux, Rustic No-Knead Sourdough, Ciabatta, Chocolate-Walnut Babka, and Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza, as well as gluten-free recipes for pizza dough and yeast breads.
A new chapter on streamlined cooking explains how to economize time, money, and ingredients and avoid waste. You will learn how to use a diverse array of ingredients, from amaranth to za’atar. New techniques include low-temperature and sous vide cooking, fermentation, and cooking with both traditional and electric pressure cookers. Barbecuing, smoking, and other outdoor cooking methods are covered in even greater detail.
This new edition of Joy is the perfect combination of classic recipes, new dishes, and indispensable reference information for today’s home cooks. Whether it is the only cookbook on your shelf or one of many, Joy is and has been the essential and trusted guide for home cooks for almost a century. This new edition continues that legacy.
Description from Goodreads.
“Joy of Cooking is a mainstay in kitchens throughout America… accessible and comprehensive. The 2019 updated edition is the latest in Joy’s long history of working to reflect the current home cook.” – Food & Wine
“Impressive, timely… Becker and Scott have improved upon a classic without bending it so sharply that it will feel dated in a decade—quite an achievement indeed.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“This new edition of the Joy of Cooking is a masterwork. It’s also an affectionate nod to the spirit of Joy’s mother, Irma Rombauer. Her legacy of encouraging and empowering cooks lives on in Becker’s and Scott’s respectful and exciting new edition… If you grew up consulting the Joy of Cooking, revisions over the past many years may have left you with mixed feelings. But the newest edition, will delight you. And if you’re not familiar with the Joy of Cooking, the new edition will become your go-to resource.” – Chicago Tribune
Available Formats:
Print Book
Camgirl: A Memoir by Isa Mazzei
From the “former sex worker taking Hollywood by storm” (The Daily Beast), comes a candid and hilarious memoir of sex work, shame, and self-discovery set in the colorful world of live-streaming camgirls.
At twenty-three, Isa Mazzei was just like any other college graduate: broke, lacking purpose, and searching for an identity. She was also a compulsive seductress with a reputation as a slut and heartbreaker. One day, while working a low-paying retail job, she had a revelation: why not embrace her salacious image and make some money off of it?
She began stripping, dancing, masturbating, playing games, making art––and broadcasting it all online for money as a camgirl. In her first month, she racked up hundreds of nightly viewers, and within a year she ranked in the top fifty girls on a site featuring tens of thousands of performers. Over the course of her career, Isa built her own business, explored BDSM, attended a porn convention, slept with a fan, and pushed herself further than she thought possible. And yet, despite her success, she struggled to fit into the community she so desperately wanted to belong to.
Camgirl is a relatable look at confronting our past traumas and accepting ourselves for who we are. It masterfully explores the complexities of digital life, sexuality and the tensions between our private and public selves. Mazzei’s biting humor and raw vulnerability ensure you’ll never think about sex work―or sex―the same way again.
Description from Goodreads.
“Brutally funny!” – Entertainment Weekly
“Mazzei leaves no taboo left untouched. A grippingly intimate and self-aware look into some of our darkest compulsions, Camgirl is a nuanced portrait of sex work and self-discovery. If we were all as willing to get down into the trenches with ourselves, the world would likely be a more compassionate place.” – Glamour
“A vivacious chronicle of how Mazzei channeled her sexuality into a lucrative business, which became an epiphanic experience as well.” – Kirkus Reviews
Available Formats:
Hoopla eBook | Hoopla eAudiobook
Religion as We Know It: An Origin Story by Jack Miles
How did our forebears begin to think about religion as a distinct domain, separate from other activities that were once inseparable from it? Starting at the birth of Christianity—a religion inextricably bound to Western thought—Jack Miles reveals how the West’s “common sense” understanding of religion emerged and then changed as insular Europe discovered the rest of the world. In a moving postscript, he shows how this very story continues today in the hearts of individual religious or irreligious men and women.
Description from Goodreads.
“Any student of theology will be enlightened by this deeply satisfying work.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“This is an exceptional work that challenges and rewards careful reading and thought. It belongs in every library.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW