- Table View
- List View
Breezeway: New Poems
by John AshberyA bold, striking new collection of poems from one of America’s most influential and inventive poets.With more than twenty poetry collections to his name, John Ashbery is one of our most agile, philosophically complex, and visionary poets. In Breezeway, Ashbery’s powers of observation are at their most astute; his insight at its most penetrating. Demonstrating his extraordinary command of language and his ability to move fluidly and elegantly between wide-ranging thoughts and ideas—from the irreverent and slyly humorous to the tender, the sad, and the heartbreaking—Ashbery shows that he is a virtuoso fluent in diverse styles and tones of language, from the chatty and whimsical to the lyrical and urbane. Filled with allusions to literature and art, as well as to the absurdities and delights of the everyday world around us, Ashbery’s poems are haunting, surprising, hilarious, and knowing all at once, the work of a master craftsman with a keen understanding of the age in which he lives and writes, an age whose fears and fragmentation he conjures and critiques with humor, pathos, and a provocative wit.Vital and imaginative, Ashbery’s poems not only touch on the “big questions” and crises of life in the twenty-first century, but also delicately capture the small moments between and among people. Imaginative, linguistically dazzling, and artistically ambitious, Breezeway is John Ashbery’s sharpest and most arresting collection yet.
The Good Sister
by Diana DiamondJennifer and Catherine-sisters who have inherited equal shares of power in Pegasus Satellite Services, one of the biggest communications empires in the world-could not be more different. While Catherine is an extraordinary beauty whose looks attract the most handsome and powerful men, her sister is a plain-Jane, no-nonsense gal who prefers running the company to walking the red carpet.But Jennifer's aversion to the spotlight becomes secondary after the successful launch of the Pegasus III satellite, her newest technological masterpiece. The company needs someone to explain the revolutionary communications tool to potential clients and Jennifer is forced to make the awkward transition from playing scientist in the laboratory to playing hostess at the most lavish party in Cannes.That's where she meets Padraig, a major film star with enough Irish charm and celebrity cache to make the move to power producer. But when he marries Jennifer, Catherine's protective instincts are triggered: is the playboy actor only after Jennifer's money and connections? When Jennifer is almost killed in a car accident on her honeymoon, Catherine feels she must intervene in her sister's relationship. But Jennifer begins to suspect that Catherine is jealous of the wallflower sister's new romance, and possibly of her power within the company. Was the accident Catherine's murderous attempt to win complete control of Pegasus? Suddenly, neither sister can trust the other in a game that has their love, fortune, and even their lives hanging in the balance.What begins as a rivalry between sisters becomes a chilling novel of psychological suspense in which one sister find herself alone on a yacht at sea, forced to defend herself from a terrifying killer in league with her sister. But which sister?
Every Picture Tells a Story: A Mystery
by Gregory DowlingFull of intrigue and suspense, Every Picture Tells a Story is a compelling mystery of art theft and forgery set against the backdrop of Venice. Six months after being released from prison for forgery, London artist Martin Phipps is starting over. While making the rounds at a gallery opening, Martin meets and speaks with a mysterious Italian man who is searching for the same art dealer that hired Martin to paint forgeries. Later that evening, while walking the streets of London, Martin saves the Italian man from being mugged. In the scuffle, he sees in the man's bag a photograph, of a very rare painting, recently stolen from a church outside of Venice--The Madonna of the Swan.The next day, while painting at his studio, Martin is attacked by two Italian thugs who question him about the mysterious Italian and then burn his entire collection. So, with nothing to keep him im London, Martin travels to Venice to investigate the theft of The Madonna of the Swan and track down the Italian himself. "[A] lighthearted romp." - Kirkus Reviews
The Skelly Man: An Alex Rasmussen Mystery (Alex Rasmussen Mysteries #2)
by David DanielAmiable, wisecracking Alex Rasmussen was first introduced--to great acclaim--in The Heaven Stone, which won the PWA/St. Martin's Best First Private Eye Novel Contest, and was also named one of the best mysteries of the year by the Providence Journal-Bulletin. Now ghosts from the past and a murderous Halloween haunt his second case. A former cop gone private, Rasmussen makes a living in the decaying New England mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts. Lowell is also the hometown of Good Night Show host Jerry Corbin, whose career has started to slump in recent years. Corbin and his entourage have come to town to film the pilot episode for a new series designed to boost his sagging star quotient and rescue his ratings. Unfortunately, someone's been sending Corbin hate mail, and an off-the-record investigation is in order. Enter Rasmussen, whose familiarity with TV consists of whatever's on the set in his local bar between sporting events. He's game for the job, though, and soon finds himself one of the insiders in Corbin's camp. Digging into Corbin's life to find out who wants to destroy him, Rasmussen learns that there are old secrets someone wants kept and old grudges someone wants satisfied. Corbin may have been on the fringes of these events, but now he has become the prime target.
The First Book of Calamity Leek: A Novel
by Paula Lichtarowicz"WONDERFULLY STRANGE." --Mark HaddonA beguiling, irresistibly immersive debut novel about sixteen sisters in a walled garden, and what happens to their carefully constructed world when one girl starts asking questions about life outside.Fourteen-year-old Calamity Leek and her sisters spend their days tending white roses and memorizing the lessons in Aunty’s Appendix, a multi-volume compendium of show tunes, beauty regimens, and twisted creation myths. Calamity knows the Appendix front to back, and she is Aunty’s favorite, destined for particular greatness. But when her restless sister Truly Polperro gets too curious about life beyond their Wall of Safekeeping, she cracks Calamity’s world wide open. Calamity needs a new book. And she will have to write it herself. With formidable imagination and brilliant strangeness, Paula Lichtarowicz's The First Book of Calamity Leek draws on fairytales and doublespeak to tell a story both classic and keenly modern. Calamity, fearless and wrenching, leads us to question the stories we ourselves live by.
The Space Between Before and After: A Novel
by Jean Reynolds PageForty-two and divorced, Holli Templeton has just begun to realize the pleasures of owning her life for the first time. But the experience is short-lived. Her son Conner has unexpectedly fled college in Rhode Island and moved to Texas with his troubled girlfriend, Kilian. This alone is difficult to handle, but as Holli begins to understand the depth of the girl's problems, concern turns to crisis.Conner's situation is worsening, and as if that's not enough, Holli notices signs of serious decline in the beloved Texas grandmother who raised her. She has no choice but to leave the comfort zone of life in New York and return to her hometown in Texas to care for the people she loves.In the tight space between these two generations, Holli initially feels lost. The journey back stirs so many unresolved hurts from her childhood. But something else happens in this uneasy homecoming. Comfort arrives in the ethereal presence of the mother long lost to her, and Holli is surprised to find that as she struggles to help her son and grandmother, the wounds of her own past begin to heal.The space between before and after—easily the most challenging place she has ever known—begins to reveal an unanticipated hope for what the future might hold.
The Depths of the Sea: A Novel
by Jamie MetzlIt's 1979 and Morgan O'Reilly, a dispirited CIA desk officer, is desperately trying to bury his memories. Sent to Cambodia as a Marine and then as a CIA operative during the Vietnam War, he had been given the unlikely task of pulling together a secret spy unit of orphaned street children. At the end of the war, he was only able to get one child out of the country, his surrogate son, Sophal. Years later, Sophal, now a CIA agent, disappears on a secret mission in the Cambodian refugee camps in Thailand. Tom Dillon, the dashing young superstar of the White House foreign policy staff, asks O'Reilly to find Sophal and bring him home. O'Reilly's search takes him deeper and deeper into the politics of the Thai-Cambodian border and finally into the deadly Khmer Rouge zone - a place where all foreigners are forbidden from entering and where cruelty and death are omnipresent. Filled with the fascinating workings of the refugee camps, the life or death politics of Washington, DC, and the inner workings of the personalities that are drawn to such extreme circumstances, Jamie Metzl's The Depths of the Sea is a thriller that both entertains and educates.
Beyond the Label: Women, Leadership, and Success on Our Own Terms
by Maureen ChiquetThe former global CEO of Chanel charts her unlikely path from literature major to global chief executive, guiding readers to move beyond the confines of staid expectations and discover their own true paths, strengths, and leadership values.Driven. Shy. Leader. Wife. Mother. We live in a world of categories — labels designed to tell the world, and ourselves, who we are and ought to be. Some we may covet, others we may fear or disdain; but creating a life that’s truly your own, means learning to define yourself on your own terms. In Beyond the Label, Maureen Chiquet charts her unlikely path from literature major to global chief executive. Sharing the inklings, risks and (re)defining moments that have shaped her exemplary career, Chiquet seeks to inspire a new generation of women, liberal arts grads, and unconventional thinkers to cultivate a way of living and leading that is all their own.Through vivid storytelling and provocative insights, Chiquet guides readers to consider the pressing questions and inherent paradoxes of creating a successful, fulfilling life in today’s increasingly complex and competitive world."Why should we separate art frombusiness, feelings from logic, intuition from judgment?" Chiquet poses. "Who decided you can’t be determined and flexible, introspective and attuned, mother and top executive? And where does it state standing unflinchingly in your vulnerability, embracing your femininity, won’t make you stronger?"Wise, inspiring, and deeply felt, Beyond the Label is for anyone who longs for a life without limits on who she is or who she will become.
Goofy Foot: An Alex Rasmussen Mystery (Alex Rasmussen Mysteries #3)
by David DanielIn David Daniel's Goofy Foot, private investigator Alex Rasmussen, embarking on a rather routine search for a missing teenager, finds himself in cold water that couldn't be hotter, as the simple task balloons into a case of murderous surfers and a heart-stopping search for a killer. Kirkus Reviews raves, "The characters are painfully human, the dialogue sharp without being over the top, and the small-town ambience dead-on."
In My Life: The Brian Epstein Story
by Debbie GellerWithout the determination, magnetism, vision, good manners, respectable clothes and financial security of Brian Epstein, no one would ever have heard of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. In Liverpool, in December 1961, Brian Epstein met the Beatles in his small office and signed a management deal. The rest may be history, but it's a history that Epstein created, along with a blueprint for all pop groups since.Out of the public eye, Epstein was flamboyant and charismatic. He drank, gambled compulsively and took drugs to excess. But people remember his wit, charm and capacity to inspire affection and loyalty. That's when he wasn't depressed, even suicidal. Epstein was Jewish in a society filled with anti-Semitism. He was homosexual at a time when it was a crime to be gay, and from his teenage days to the end of his life he suffered arrests, beatings and blackmail--all of which had to be kept secret.In In My Life: The Brian Epstein Story, Debbie Geller tells the story of Epstein's complicated life through the reminiscences of his friends and family. Based on dozens of interviews--with Paul McCartney, George Martin and Marianne Faithfull, among others--plus many of Epstein's personal diaries, this book uncovers the truth behind the enigmatic young man who unintentionally caused a cultural revolution--and in the process destroyed himself.
Spirit of Adventure: Eagle Scouts and the Making of America's Future
by Alvin TownleyAn extraordinary journey alongside America's new generation of Eagle Scouts, who are discovering their purpose and bringing the values of Scouting to the world.Over the past century, Scouts have helped to guide the course of American history. But what does Scouting and the Eagle badge mean to the Scouts of today? How will they shape the future of Scouting and America itself? In Spirit of Adventure, Scouting expert and Eagle Scout Alvin Townley finds the answer.Townley traveled across the country and to the far corners of the globe to meet these young Eagle Scouts. He found them everywhere, continuing the life of adventure and service that they had begun in Scouting. He discovered them in Afghanistan providing medical care to villagers, in Australia saving coral reefs, at the Super Bowl and Olympic venues striving for victory, on desert cliffs and at inner-city schools teaching new lessons, in Africa bringing hope to children, and on the windswept deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz preparing for takeoff.Whether doctors, activists, servicemen, entrepreneurs, or teachers, these young men are changing the world through bold actions that capture the essence of the Scouting tradition. In Spirit of Adventure, Townley answers important questions about the future of Scouting and America, while revealing stories of service, courage, and pure excitement that introduce our nation to an inspiring new generation of leaders.
Cuba on the Verge: 12 Writers on Continuity and Change in Havana and Across the Country
by Leila GuerrieroSpanning politics and art, music and baseball, Cuba on the Verge is a timely look at a society’s profound transformation—from inside and outChange looms in Cuba. Just ninety miles from United States shores yet inaccessible to most Americans until recently, Cuba fascinates as much as it confounds. Images of the Buena Vista Social Club, wild nights at the Tropicana, classic cars, and bearded rebels clinching cigars only scrape the surface of Cuba’s complex history and legacy. As the US and Cuba move toward the normalization of diplomatic relations after an epic fifty-six-year standoff, we find ourselves face-to-face with one of the few places in the world that has been off limits to most Americans. We know that Cuba is changing, but from what and into what? And what does this change mean for the Cuban people as well as for the rest of the world? Standing on both sides of the divide, twelve of our most celebrated writers investigate this period of momentous transition in Cuba on the Verge. These essays span the spectrum, from Carlos Manuel Álvarez’s story of being among the last generation of Cubans to be raised under Fidel Castro to Patricia Engel’s look at how Cuba’s capital has changed through her years of riding across it with her taxi driver friend; from The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson (who traveled with President Obama on the first trip to Cuba by an American president since the twenties) on being a foreigner in Cuba during the Special Period to Francisco Goldman on the Tropicana, then and now, to Leonardo Padura on the religion that is Cuban baseball. Cuba on the Verge is the definitive account of—and a unique glimpse at—a moment of upheaval and reinvention whose effects promise to reverberate across years and nations.
My Parents: An Introduction / This Does Not Belong To You
by Aleksandar HemonTwo books in one in a flip dos-à-dos format: The story of Aleksandar Hemon’s parents’ immigration from Sarajevo to Canada and a book of short memories of the author’s family, friends, and childhood in SarajevoIn My Parents, Aleksandar Hemon tells the story of his parents’ immigration to Canada—of the lives that were upended by the war in Bosnia and siege of Sarajevo and the new lives his parents were forced to build. As ever with his work, he portrays both the perfect, intimate details (his mother’s lonely upbringing, his father’s fanatical beekeeping) and a sweeping, heartbreaking history of his native country. It is a story full of many Hemons, of course—his parents, sister, uncles, cousins—and also of German occupying forces, Yugoslav partisans, royalist Serb collaborators, singing Ukrainians, and a few befuddled Canadians.My Parents is Hemon at his very best, grounded in stories lovingly polished by retelling, but making them exhilarating and fresh in writing, summoning unexpected laughs in the midst of the heartbreaking narratives. This Does Not Belong to You, meanwhile, is the exhilarating, freewheeling, unabashedly personal companion to My Parents—a perfect dose of Hemon at his most dazzling and untempered in a series of beautifully distilled memories and observations and explosive, hilarious, poignant miniatures. Presented dos-à-dos with My Parents, it complements and completes a major work from a major writer.In the words of Colum McCann, “Aleksandar Hemon is, quite frankly, the greatest writer of our generation.” Hemon has never been better than here in these pages. And the moment has never been more ready for his voice, nor has the world ever been more in need of it.
The Summer of Me: A Novel
by Angela BensonThe nationally bestselling author of Delilah’s Daughters and The Amen Sisters returns with a moving story about a single mother who discovers the woman she can be in one unforgettable summer.As a single mother, Destiny makes sacrifices for her children—including saying goodbye for the summer so they can spend time with their father and stepmother. Though she’ll miss them with all her heart, the time alone gives her an opportunity to address her own needs, like finish getting her college degree. But Destiny’s friends think her summer should include some romance.Destiny doesn’t want to be set up…until she meets Daniel. The handsome, warm and charming pastor soon sweeps Destiny off her feet. But is romance what she really wants? Or needs?As the days pass, Destiny will make new discoveries—about herself, the man she’s fallen for, and the people around her. And she’ll face challenging choices. But most of all, she’ll grow in ways she never imagined, learning unexpected lessons about trust, forgiveness, and the price of motherhood…and truly become the woman she wants to be.
Judicial Whispers: A Novel (Caper Court Ser. #2)
by Caro Fraser“Fraser engages her readers quickly and never lets go” in this drama about a judge who tries to hide his sexual past by pursuing a suitable wife (Tatler Magazine).The whispers begin when Leo Davies, charming, clever barrister in one of London’s most prestigious chambers, applies to take silk. Despite a life of seemingly unflawed social and professional brilliance, Leo has made a mistake: he is suspected of having a lurid and peculiar sexual past. With too many skeletons in his closet, Leo decides that in order to achieve the coveted position of Queen’s Council, the rumors must be scotched. And as desperate times call for desperate measures, he resolves to find a suitable woman and preferably marry her.Thus begins a quest in which Leo, determined that his ambition will not be thwarted, sets out to woo and win the perfect, beautiful solicitor Rachael Dean. But Leo has taken on more than he bargained for: Rachael not only has a dazzling career in front of her, but also a dark and frightening past.Leo’s tangled, sophisticated life, Rachael’s newly awakened passions, and the unrequited love of a bright young barrister, Anthony Cross, form the intricate cat’s cradle at the heart of this absorbing novel. Judicial Whispers is a tale of relationships, deceit and ambition in which Caro Fraser brings to life with uncanny accuracy the obsessions and delusions of people in love.“Witty, polished . . . Rumpole, eat your heart out.” —She Magazine
Ash Island: A Belltree Mystery (The Belltree Trilogy #2)
by Barry Maitland“One of the best books of 2015!” —Kirkus Reviews on Crucifixion CreekDetective Sergeant Harry Belltree is back on the job after a near-fatal confrontation with corrupt colleagues and his presence has become a departmental embarrassment. Because of what happened, he can’t—and doesn’t want to—return to his old position with the Sydney Police Department. Instead, he accepts a post with a police department far away and attempts to build a new, quiet life in Newcastle, Australia. But that quiet life soon eludes him. A corpse has been found buried just offshore on Ash Island and that one body may well just be the first of many. Not only that, Belltree finds himself engaged in some unfinished business from his own past. The car crash that killed his parents and blinded his wife happened not far from Newcastle. Belltree knows it was no accident, but his own investigations lead him to wonder how well he really knew his own parents. With his wife Jenny now pregnant, a much longed-for event, it’s up to Belltree to decide how he can confront the evil from the past while protecting his loved ones in the present and future.
Darling Jim: A Novel
by Christian MoerkA modern gothic novel of suspense that reveals, through their diaries, the story of sisters who fall in love with a beguiling stranger, and of the town that turns a blind eye to his murderous waysWhen two sisters and their aunt are found dead in their suburban Dublin home, it seems that the secret behind their untimely demise will never be known. But then Niall, a young mailman, finds a mysterious diary in the post office's dead-letter bin. From beyond the grave, Fiona Walsh shares the most tragic love story he's ever heard—and her tale has only just begun. Niall soon becomes enveloped by the mystery surrounding itinerant storyteller Jim, who traveled through Ireland enrapturing audiences and wooing women with his macabre mythic narratives. Captivated by Jim, townspeople across Ireland thought it must be a sad coincidence that horrific murders trailed him wherever he went—and they failed to connect that the young female victims, who were smitten by the newest bad boy in town, bore an all too frightening similarity to the victims in Jim's own fictional plots. The Walsh sisters, fiercely loyal to one another, were not immune to "darling" Jim's powers of seduction, but found themselves in harm's way when they began to uncover his treacherous past. Niall must now continue his dangerous hunt for the truth—and for the vanished third sister—while there's still time. And in the woods, the wolves from Jim's stories begin to gather.
If I Get to Five: What Children Can Teach Us About Courage and Character
by Fred Epstein Josh HorwitzA world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon shares the lessons of courage, compassion, and resilience that he's learned from his exceptional young patientsIf I Get to Five is a one-of-a-kind book by a one-of-a-kind human being. The medical world knows him as Fred Epstein, M.D., the neurosurgeon who pioneered life-saving procedures for previously inoperable tumors in children. His patients and their families know him simply as Dr. Fred, the "miracle man" who has extended them both a healing hand and an open heart. "I simply can't accept the idea of kids dying," is how Epstein explains his commitment to saving patients. As a child, he had to overcome severe learning disabilities to realize his dream of becoming a doctor. Later, as the world's leading pediatric neurosurgeon, he did whatever it took to rescue children that other doctors had given up on. Epstein credits his young patients as his most important teachers. "We tend to think of children as fragile, little people," he writes. "To me, they're giants." If I Get to Five relates the unforgettable experiences he's shared with children-lessons in courage, compassion, love, and hope-that we can all draw on to overcome adversity at any stage of life. In If I Get to Five, Epstein meditates on these lessons at a time when they parallel his own experiences, as he recovers from a near-fatal head injury.If I Get to Five is a riveting profile of courage and compassion. No one who reads this remarkable book will ever look at children-or adversity-in the same way.
The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno: A Novel
by Ellen BrysonWater for Elephants meets Geek Love in this riveting first novel, an enchanting love story set in P. T. Barnum's American Museum in 1865 New York CityBartholomew Fortuno, the World's Thinnest Man, believes that his unusual body is a gift. Hired by none other than P. T. Barnum to work at his spectacular American Museum—a modern marvel of macabre displays, breathtaking theatrical performances, and live shows by Barnum's cast of freaks and oddities—Fortuno has reached the pinnacle of his career. But after a decade of constant work, he finds his sense of self, and his contentment within the walls of the museum, flagging. When a carriage pulls up outside the museum in the dead of night, bearing Barnum and a mysterious veiled woman—rumored to be a new performer—Fortuno's curiosity is piqued. And when Barnum asks Fortuno to follow her and report back on her whereabouts, his world is turned upside down. Why is Barnum so obsessed with this woman? Who is she, really? And why has she taken such a hold on the hearts of those around her? Set in the New York of 1865, a time when carriages rattled down cobblestone streets, raucous bordellos near the docks thrived, and the country was mourning the death of President Lincoln, The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno is a moving novel about human appetites and longings. With pitch-perfect prose, Ellen Bryson explores what it means to be profoundly unique—and how the power of love can transcend even the greatest divisions.
Parents Need to Eat Too: Nap-Friendly Recipes, One-Handed Meals, and Time-Saving Kitchen Tricks for New Parents
by Debbie KoenigThe ultimate cookbook for new parents, featuring more than 150 recipes designed to help you eat well while caring for your bundle of joy!When you spend all your time and energy taking care of your new baby, how do you manage to also take care of yourself? Food and parenting writer Debbie Koenig addresses this common dilemma by offering simple, healthy, and delicious recipes for moms and dads who are too sleep-deprived, too frazzled, or simply too busy to contemplate cooking.From dinners that can be eaten with one hand (while you hold baby in the other) to slow cooker culinary masterpieces and full courses to prepare while baby naps, Parents Need to Eat Too is filled with tasty, easy-to-make recipes, helpful kitchen tips, and real solutions to the problems faced by hungry parents.Named one of the Best Cookbooks of 2012 by Leite’s Culinaria
The Grave of God's Daughter: A Novel
by Brett Ellen BlockA woman is faced with the past she's tried to put behind her only to find that what transpired in her childhood has never been further away than her own shadow.The year is 1941. Rooted in the lonely outreaches of the Allegheny Mountains lies the town of Hyde Bend. Its heart: a steel mill; its bones: the tight community of Polish immigrants who inhabit it; and its blood: their fierce Catholic faith. But buried in the town's soul is a dangerous secret surrounding the death of a revered priest.Upon returning to Hyde Bend, a young woman accidentally uncovers the truth behind this crime, which leads to a second murder. The town quickly erupts in fear and finger pointing. The girl is forced to unravel the now-intertwined mysteries and discovers her own family at the center. Now she must confront all she holds sacred if she is to save her family and herself in this story of lost innocence, transgression, faith, and forgiveness.
The Courage to Grieve: The Classic Guide to Creative Living, Recovery, and Growth Through Grief
by Judy TatelbaumThis unusual self-help book about surviving grief offers the reader comfort and inspiration. Each of us will face some loss, sorrow and disappointment in our lives, and The Courage to Grieve provides the specific help we need to enable us to face our grief fully and to recover and grow from the experience. Although the book emphasizes the response to the death of a loved one, The Courage to Grieve can help with every kind of loss and grief.Judy Tatelbaum gives us a fresh look at understanding grief, showing us that grief is a natural, inevitable human experience, including all the unexpected, intense and uncomfortable emotions like sorrow, guilt, loneliness, resentment, confusion, or even the temporary loss of the will to live. The emphasis is to clarify and offer help, and the tone is spiritual, optimistic, creative and easy to understand. Judy Tatelbaum provides excellent advice on how to help oneself and others get through the immediate experience of death and the grief that follows, as well as how to understand the special grief of children. Particularly useful are the techniques for completing or "finishing" grief--counteracting the popular misconception that grief never ends. The Courage to Grieve shows us how to live life with the ultimate courage: not fearing death. This book is about so much more than death and grieving it is about life and joy and growth.
Hitts & Mrs.: A Novel
by Lori Bryant-WoolridgeA marriage is challenged by a husband’s emotional connection to another woman in this interracial romance from an Essence bestselling author.Melanie Hitts is a smart, savvy and talented aspiring interior decorator who follows her dream of moving to New York City and pursuing her career. She’s rejected the prescribed middle class life in which she had been raised, and she’s certain that there is no convenient marriage and comfortable suburban lifestyle in her future.John Carlson is the president of his own high-end architectural firm who is in the middle of a midlife crisis. Married and living in Connecticut, he convinces his wife, Sharon, to move to Manhattan in order to re-ignite his professional life. Though she complies with her husband, Sharon is very unhappy about uprooting her comfortable suburban home. But her life takes on a new meaning when she develops a friendship with a rebelling teenager.What will happen when these three lives intersect?
A Knife in the Back: A Case For Professor Sally Good (Professor Sally Good Mysteries #2)
by Bill CriderDr. Sally Good, chair of the Department of English at Hughes Community College has learned how to cope with the many minor disasters and a couple of major ones, including a murder, that have cropped up since her tenure. Right now, however, her only worry is about her own behavior. She's just violated one of the major rules for department chairs - never date the staff. She hadn't actually dated Jack Neville, but she had said yes when he asked her to go out with him.It's beginning to look as though Sally may not have to worry about that. Her intended escort has come under suspicion of murdering one of the college trustees, and could be arrested any time now. The good news is that the evidence is shaky and Neville is far from the only person around who wouldn't mind seeing Bostic's obit in the county paper. The man is a used-car salesman of questionable morals and an antediluvian who is against educating or even feeding the men in the local prison, where the college conducts classes. The sheriff is the bad news. Sally and Jack have tangled with in Murder Is an Art, and he can be depended upon to go for the obvious, though questionable, solution, based on the discovery of Jack's handmade knife at the scene. Sally feels the responsibility: it is up to her to plunge once more into investigation. The search becomes a true comedy of errors, some furnished by Neville himself, who is thoroughly nice but somewhat of an airhead (the modern phrase for "absent-minded professor"). The really bright ideas and solid detection is furnished by the charming Sally, and author Crider happily provides the dry humor that so charms his readers both in his accounts of Dr. Good's adventures and those of his Sheriff Dan Rhodes.
No Place to Die: A Novel (Mike Lockyer Novels #2)
by Clare DonoghueJane Bennett, senior Detective Sergeant for the murder squad at her London police precinct, is having a terrible day. Her boss, Detective Inspector Mike Lockyer, has just returned to work after two weeks on "leave," though Jane knows it was really more like a suspension. He's still shaken by the loss of a victim in their last murder case, and Jane is still stung that Lockyer didn't trust her enough to confide in her about the case before it was too late.But neither of them has the luxury of time to dwell on past grievances. Jane has just received a phone call from a good friend saying that her husband Mark Leech, a retired policeman, has disappeared. When Jane finds dramatic blood splatters in the laundry room, she knows Mark is seriously injured at best, and they don't have any time to waste. And then the body of a young girl is discovered in a tomb under a London greenway, and police resources are stretched even thinner…until it starts to look like the two cases might be related.No Place to Die is another spine-tingling mystery with complex, three-dimensional characters from suspense master Clare Donoghue.