tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79921632654494904032024-03-16T03:08:06.738-04:00Bippity Boppity BookReviews and SuchHollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.comBlogger555125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-56736839524803787162018-09-03T10:00:00.000-04:002018-09-03T10:00:10.309-04:00The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="white-space: normal;">At a gala party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed--again. She's been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. Doomed to repeat the same day over and over, Aiden's only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle's murder and conquer the shadows of an enemy he struggles to even comprehend--but nothing and no one are quite what they seem.</span></i></span></pre>
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<pre class="display" style="background-color: white; border-radius: 4px; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.5em; outline: none; overflow-wrap: normal; overflow: auto; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: normal; word-wrap: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can honestly say I've not read a book quite like this before. I thought the beginning of the book was a little abrupt but this is such a fantastic story. The premise of a man (Aiden Bishop) waking up in the body of another and tasked to solve a murder while shifting between eight hosts linked to the victim was genius. Our protagonist initially wakes up in the body of Dr. Sebastian Bell but throughout the course of the novel he shifts between 7 other hosts while attempting to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle. Each night at 11 pm she is doomed to die and he must figure out whodunnit before it is too late. Each time one of his hosts falls asleep, he takes up with another host and continues on with each host having various degrees of usefulness. </span></pre>
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<pre class="display" style="background-color: white; border-radius: 4px; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.5em; outline: none; overflow-wrap: normal; overflow: auto; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: normal; word-wrap: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The story weaves back and forth at a blistering pace as crucial parts fall in to place one by one. I was up til 3 am finishing this book and I was not able to guess the outcome at all. The only downside to the book at all is that there are so many characters involved it takes quite the effort on the part of the reader to keep them all straight. I really liked this book. It invoked the same feelings I had when reading The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Books that produce that heart in throat-can't put this down-must find out what happens-type feelings are rare for me. This book definitely falls into those categories.</span></pre>
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-17962820696790952822018-04-30T10:00:00.000-04:002018-04-30T10:00:21.968-04:00Bookish Boyfriends by Tiffany Schmidt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><i><span style="color: #351c75;">Merrilee Campbell, 16, thinks boys are better in books, chivalry is dead, and there’d be nothing more romantic than having just one guy woo her like the heroes in classic stories. She’s about to get the chance to test these daydreams when she, her best friend, Eliza, and her younger sister, Rory, transfer into Reginald R. Hero High, where all their fantasies come true—often with surprising consequences. </span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Normally if I'm reading a YA novel it falls into the fantasy/dystopian category. Lately I've been requesting YA novels of all sorts so I can do my due diligence selecting them for my library and make sure I am not ordering absolute rubbish to add to the collection. With great power comes great responsibility after all.... I saw this one pop up on NetGalley and was intrigued.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">When I first started reading this I was like "Our main character is some boy obsessed creature who is more obsessed with scoping out the campus hotties at her exclusive new school than actually doing anything else". First day of school and she is immediately pining after mysterious broody boy under the shade tree. I actually identified more with her more reserved best friend Eliza. I actually had to stop myself and throw aside my middle aged reader prejudices and once I did I really started to enjoy this book.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Merilee rushes headlong into first love/first boyfriend and as the book progresses she becomes infinitely more likable when she acknowledges her self worth and decides to make the right decisions for her and stop worrying about everyone else. Her first assignment for her English class is to read Romeo and Juliet. At first she thinks Romeo is the perfect book boyfriend with his love of Juliet. As her real life romance plays out, it parallels the famous Shakespeare play and her perceptions about her book boyfriend and her real one starts to change. Meanwhile she meets Fielding, the son of the school headmaster, and he seems to have it out for her from day one. Basically he's a jerk because of his preconceived notions of her and she is too proud to realize he might have some redeeming qualities after all. Hmmm, sounds like another book I've read before.... Anyway, even though the book seemed a bit silly when it started, I thought it was a cute read. Middle -aged me might have struggled a bit here and there with this book but 15 year old me would have given this a 5 paw rating no problem. I loved how it Merri's story echoed the classic books she was reading. For some reason I had it in my head that somehow these book heroes were going to materialize in her life somehow but it is really just the boys in her life bearing an uncanny resemblance to those in the books. The friendships in this book were great and there was a bit of a feminist streak in here that I appreciated as well. Therefore, I'm going to go with 3 kitties-a good tail.</span></span><br />
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-17670639514266599092018-04-19T10:00:00.000-04:002018-04-19T10:00:28.947-04:00I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvuXRwq55iq1q10TQxH4FZR55FmReGGUP2S77Hr_zfhHuL8p_-3zQF8yKhPSi6eBLHZ8E7ewtenV39-qbHCIe914OfInTVCPrPgIetsnHAUICr7Cbgeb2t_fBosKOrh5AqLGjm7zWuZuU/s1600/number+four.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvuXRwq55iq1q10TQxH4FZR55FmReGGUP2S77Hr_zfhHuL8p_-3zQF8yKhPSi6eBLHZ8E7ewtenV39-qbHCIe914OfInTVCPrPgIetsnHAUICr7Cbgeb2t_fBosKOrh5AqLGjm7zWuZuU/s200/number+four.jpg" width="131" /></a><i><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books--but we are real.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. We have lived among you without you knowing.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">they</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> know. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">They caught Number One in Malaysia. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Number Two in England.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">And Number Three in Kenya. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">They killed them all. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I am Number Four. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I am next.</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></i>
<span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">It has taken me an eternity to read this for three main reasons 1) I usually never watch movies based on books until I've read the books first. This time I did and thought the movie was just eh. 2) I got burned out from reading Sci-Fi YA books for awhile (Maze Runner, Fifth Wave etc.) and 3) for those that don't know Pittacus Lore is a pseudonym for the three people that write/wrote this series, one of which is James Frey (he who lied to Oprah and formed a YA book writing company designed to churn out novels making lots of money while paying those who write them very little). So, due to those factors I put off reading this for awhile.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">John Smith is the 15 year old protagonist in this one. He seems like your average kid except he isn't. He is really an alien from the planet Lorien, a race that was nearly rendered extinct by the Mogadorians who attacked Lorien when they had destroyed all the resources on their own planet. John is one of 9 "Gardes" who escaped during the final battle along with 9 "Cepans" or guardians who were sent with each Garde to keep them safe until they grew up and came into their powers. Henri is John's guardian. The Mogadorians have hunted the Gardes to Earth which is where the last of the Loriens fled and now are hunting John and his fellow guards one by one. Due to a special protective charm put in place, Gardes can only be killed in numerical order. The "Mogs" have already found and killed the first three. John is Number Four. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Usually when the baddies start getting close, John and Henri pack up and skip town creating new identities for themselves. This time though, John has formed attachments in his latest home of Paradise, OH-namely best friend Sam and pretty Sarah. He doesn't want to leave even when the Mogs get closer and the danger increases. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Personally I think the book was much better than the movie. There is a lot more character development going on here and the movie left out a bunch of parts (as they normally do). Although certain plot points left me underwhelmed (the underdeveloped romance-why does Sarah like John so much? They know nothing about each other!) and the fact that it didn't take too much to get John to reveal his super hush hush secret to those around him when it became more convenient to do so-the book wasn't bad at all. Also Henri's mantra throughout the whole book is "You're not ready! You're not ready!" Then the bad guys show up and he's like "I think it's time". I liked the introduction to #6 and think I will continue on with the next book to see where this series goes. This book was better than I thought it would be and it was a pretty quick read.</span></span><br />
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-6868821645850171972018-04-15T17:49:00.000-04:002018-04-15T17:49:06.681-04:00Secondborn by Amy A. Bartol<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI9_6zXJOdS3LBXH59bo7ZQXrHi0epb2mhOPvXHFrWtqm053I2IZ4Hptev389QUIDzlON1_ym-GuS0VZmA4ke4pauxcKTHifgyKtdXSEffrgg3nXqVS9es3WxvKEjGi1P-tjujcHKca84/s1600/secondborn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI9_6zXJOdS3LBXH59bo7ZQXrHi0epb2mhOPvXHFrWtqm053I2IZ4Hptev389QUIDzlON1_ym-GuS0VZmA4ke4pauxcKTHifgyKtdXSEffrgg3nXqVS9es3WxvKEjGi1P-tjujcHKca84/s200/secondborn.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="color: #351c75;"><i><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Firstborns rule society. Secondborns are the property of the government. Thirdborns are not tolerated. Long live the Fates Republic.</b><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">On Transition Day, the second child in every family is taken by the government and forced into servitude. Roselle St. Sismode’s eighteenth birthday arrives with harsh realizations: she’s to become a soldier for the Fate of Swords military arm of the Republic during the bloodiest rebellion in history, and her elite firstborn mother is happy to see her go.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Televised since her early childhood, Roselle’s privileged upbringing has earned her the resentment of her secondborn peers. Now her decision to spare an enemy on the battlefield marks her as a traitor to the state. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But Roselle finds an ally—and more—in fellow secondborn conscript Hawthorne Trugrave. As the consequences of her actions ripple throughout the Fates Republic, can Roselle create a destiny of her own? Or will her Fate override everything she fights for—even love?</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">I grabbed this one because I was doing my monthly book order and saw the second one was coming out shortly. The second book sounded so good I wanted to read the first. Of course, it was only available through the Michigan E-Library because only 3 libraries in the state had the first one. This is your typical dystopian novel. Something has seriously gone wrong with the society where there is a need for population control. Families are only allowed two children. The first child born is automatically elevated into the top 1% and becomes a member of the ruling class. The 2nd born serves the government in some capacity. Our heroine is Roselle and her family is in charge of the military wing of the government. Since the St. Sismodes are such a huge deal, Roselle's entire existence from birth to adulthood is televised for the whole world to watch. It's kind of like "See even the most important people in the world make the same sacrifices the rest of you do." We find out that Roselle's fate is to placed into the lowest level of the military where it is almost certain she will make the noble sacrifice of her life in the fight against the rebels who wish to do away with the social hierarchy. Things don't go as expected though as Roselle discovers she has people on her side-including handsome fellow military recruit Hawthorne. She continues to defy expectations at every turn, much to the disappointment of her mother who would rather see Roselle out of the picture once and for all.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Overall I really enjoyed this book. There were some things about Roselle's character I didn't enjoy as much. She is supermodel beautiful, is extremely smart, and can fight better than anyone else. I always find it hard to like characters that have the perfection deck stacked in their favor. There are several things about her I did like though-fiery spirit and an intense desire to do what is right for people. The story was really good as Roselle keeps getting obstacle after obstacle thrown in her way. She also crosses paths with one of the most sadistic people on the planet who definitely has it out for her. I've read a lot of dystopians and I would say this about middle of the pack. I will be continuing on with the second book as this one left several unanswered questions and scenarios. I stayed up pretty late to finish this one because I didn't want to wait til the next evening to see how it ended.</span></span><br />
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-27765209630075568692018-04-01T22:09:00.004-04:002018-04-01T22:09:49.521-04:00Thoughts on a Few Recently Read BooksSo, I have finally conquered the 5th Song of Ice and Fire book. With my extremely hectic schedule it took me 7 WEEKS. It has never taken me that long to read a book! Here are my very brief thoughts on few I have read recently:<br />
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Annihilation originally peaked my interest because of the Natalie Portman movie. Of course, I had no idea the movie was based on a book or that this was just the first book in Vandermeer's Southern Reach Trilogy. I did not know what to expect when I dove into this but the premise was interesting. There is a mysterious area known as Area X which is equal parts intriguing and dangerous. Several expeditions have been sent to explore this area but many have not returned and those that have are definitely not the same. After her husband dies from cancer after returning from this area, our narrator goes in as part of an observation team to record this strange area and what effect it has on others in the team. Her personal mission is to find out what could have possibly happened to her husband to make him return to her as so much less than he was when he left. I don't want to give too much more plot away but I will say this book is a solid read-a little bit weird and suspenseful with more than a few "what the hell?" moments in it. In tone it almost reminded me of how I feel when I read a Stephen King novel. Not scary, but definitely walks that eerie/peculiar line. I thought it was worth the read although I have a sneaking suspicion that the movie will be nothing like the book. I plan to continue on with the other two books at some point, although I've heard book two drags quite a bit compared to this one.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlIIbKU5rA3Mrz4veQCUNEAFDgbpUbo2dnsGfEUJ3-u6FBaeUbu0RPA-FdZQ1DDnhP9BVmLJVcOMK3KUi13Qoaz6_klNnLNWrz02eQn-C54-B2vwPYE0eynl1KGyb0beo04OQRAjCyiYA/s1600/CHILBURY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlIIbKU5rA3Mrz4veQCUNEAFDgbpUbo2dnsGfEUJ3-u6FBaeUbu0RPA-FdZQ1DDnhP9BVmLJVcOMK3KUi13Qoaz6_klNnLNWrz02eQn-C54-B2vwPYE0eynl1KGyb0beo04OQRAjCyiYA/s200/CHILBURY.jpg" width="132" /></a>The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan was our book club pick for March. At first I was not too anxious to read this one since it seems I've read a ton of books set in WWII lately. However, the mother of one of our book club ladies read it and loved it so I thought I'd give it a go. All the menfolk go off to fight the war and you just can't have a choir without men in it so the local vicar decides they should disband. The ladies in town are not having it and decide to reform as the Childbury Ladies' Choir-led by the tenacious new choir director Miss Prim. So, going in I thought this book was going to be your run of the mill "how will the women ever survive without the men-oh hey-they somehow find the courage" type book. While it did contain those elements it also surpassed my expectations by a mile because the characters were wonderful and well developed. I really enjoy a book that takes me on a journey with a character and completely makes me change my mind about them by the time I reach the end of the book. This happened several times here. We have a young woman who develops her social conscience, another vain young woman who comes to see there is more to life than pretty dresses, a sassy schemer that may just be redeemable after all, a timid older woman who finds strength she didn't know she had. This book had funny moments, sadness, a bit of a love story-an all around good read. Would definitely recommend this one. I liked this one a lot and so did everyone in my book club. It generated a lot of good discussion about women's role during this time and the moral dilemmas presented in the book.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Q8K8XJ6jTi-tElKaxBGCRazUaXuenoid_CUDaR5FDsqJKyzdUqceTAgvEXal7LU0xXxU_0sDnVBu07Eu1_ST8zZ8ZBf8Nrsv1YC4eD_kbRKYrnjMc_WOC4Zo-kRKpFtav0ZmGsHaUd0/s1600/MAGNIFICENT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="275" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Q8K8XJ6jTi-tElKaxBGCRazUaXuenoid_CUDaR5FDsqJKyzdUqceTAgvEXal7LU0xXxU_0sDnVBu07Eu1_ST8zZ8ZBf8Nrsv1YC4eD_kbRKYrnjMc_WOC4Zo-kRKpFtav0ZmGsHaUd0/s200/MAGNIFICENT.jpg" width="137" /></a>The Magnificent Flying Baron Estate by Eric Bower is the first in a middle grade series I stumbled upon while looking for books to order for the library. It sounded fun so I ordered the first two. Then, our library partnered up with the local school during March is Reading Month and several classes were scheduled to come visit the library for book talks which prompted me to read this one so I could share my thoughts on it with the kiddos. This book is about a little boy named Waldo Baron who longs for a normal existence. WB lives with his eccentric inventor parents and his fussy Aunt Dorcas so nothing is ever quite normal in his house. Speaking of his house, his parents find out there is a contest for inventors to go about the country in a flying machine collecting random odd items with the winner receiving $500. WB's mom and dad decide to turn their house a flying machine. Everyone sees the Baron's flying house as the best chance of winning-including a villain who wants the prize money for herself and decides WB and his parents will help her whether they want to or not. I think this book is great for 5th or 6th graders looking for a fun adventure book. It has just the right balance of fun, absurdity, mystery, and humor. I am 36 and found it quite entertaining. I imagine it would be even more so for its intended audience. This is the first in a series and I plan on ordering the latest for my library. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_teOFk0jXgEGBGys-I6_2rP9_QX4wH3zQjU1EPjGsxAccTCj0sk5HT1x_arXRHNTHOdcLRWUqpGQG1FH_GpUq2pvL5lsBIfNHiYR86s6uVBLfcjrpvgpOv7nYnRpbT_ihv7__3oDE3Mc/s1600/DANCE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="288" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_teOFk0jXgEGBGys-I6_2rP9_QX4wH3zQjU1EPjGsxAccTCj0sk5HT1x_arXRHNTHOdcLRWUqpGQG1FH_GpUq2pvL5lsBIfNHiYR86s6uVBLfcjrpvgpOv7nYnRpbT_ihv7__3oDE3Mc/s200/DANCE.jpg" width="121" /></a>As I stated earlier, this behemoth took me 7 stinking weeks to read. Part of the reason for that was I was really really busy in March. The other reason is because compared to the other books in the series the pacing of this one was much slower and I thought it rambled a lot more. This book is also the one where I noticed the biggest difference between the books and the TV series. There are several story arcs that diverge quite a bit from what we've seen on TV (characters on TV that are dead in the books, characters in the books that died in the TV series, characters in the books that were never part of the TV show at all). I know that is to be expected and I love both the show and the book series. Book four in the series followed all the southern characters and this one follows the northern and eastern storyline (Winterfell, the Wall, and all the action going on with Daenerys across the Narrow Sea and Arya in Braavos). </div>
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George R. R. Martin excels at world building and making memorable characters. What dragged this book down in my estimation is that this was the book containing all of my favorite characters yet their stories took so long to play out. <b><span style="color: #990000;">STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HAS OCCURRED SO FAR!</span></b> Tyrion is forever trying to make his way to Dany, Dany is hemming and hawing over leaving Mereen for Westeros, Bran is off into uncharted territory, Arya is still in training at the house of black and white and Jon Snow is trying to unite the men on the wall with the Wildlings before the real bad guys show up. <b><span style="color: #351c75;">SAFE TO READ AGAIN:</span></b><b style="color: #38761d;"> </b>I really think this book could have cut out a lot where nothing of importance was happening and still have been a good read. I thought the best parts were when the story was taking place at Winterfell with Theon and on the wall with Jon Snow and even those storylines were really drawn out. My honest opinion is that if you have come this far, read this one so you can keep going with the next once it gets released and hope that one will pick up the pace but prepare to struggle while you are reading this one. Every series has a book that is not quite up to the level of the rest of the books and I think A Dance of Dragons is that book for the A Song of Ice and Fire Series. I also hope that the next book follows all of the characters again instead of being divided between two books. I understand why this installment was split into two books (because who wants to read a 2,500 page book?) but I think both stories suffered because of it. I feel immense relief at having finally finished this.</div>
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Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple was our book club pick for April. I chose this one because it came highly recommended by a friend. Here is the publisher's description which explains the book much better than I could:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><i>"Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom. </i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><i>Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle - and people in general - has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.</i></span><span style="color: #181818;"> "</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">This book was billed as laugh out loud funny and while I wouldn't say that was the case, it excels at giving a satirical look at Seattle's rich crowd and was definitely amusing with a few unexpected more tender moments. Bernadette is one of those oddball characters who seems to cause chaos wherever she goes-intentionally or not. The local moms hate her, her husband is a workaholic, and she prefers living life from the safety bubble of her own (which causes her to make huge and costly mistakes). The center of her world is her extremely bright daughter Bea whom she would do anything for-even literally travelling to the ends of the earth. The book is told partly in letters and emails. Bernadette's view on life is interesting to say the least and I liked her the more her story unfolded. Although the title makes it sound like there will be some big mystery about Bernadette's disappearance, the book focuses more on the events that continue to snowball until she reaches a breaking point and disappears off the radar. This was a super fast read for me and I have a feeling this is one of those books where people will either really really like it or think it was a total dumpster fire waste of time. I am in the former category on this one.</span></span></div>
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-31703416750158864972018-03-18T15:23:00.001-04:002018-03-18T15:23:16.800-04:00The Librarian Life-March So Far.....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qBCYrNBwFUQbT5tQxe-6-ZPYKSIFlQr8H03lua-UChCFabuW_nih-MYm3NXBbeBCSLBGj7MxqyrFwyGzIRHfh9ucYiNxKbPmWIbXszOnb7k3DTgVJEYi9jk_i0Lm4PixQXq3RYu2uZM/s1600/juv+books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="960" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qBCYrNBwFUQbT5tQxe-6-ZPYKSIFlQr8H03lua-UChCFabuW_nih-MYm3NXBbeBCSLBGj7MxqyrFwyGzIRHfh9ucYiNxKbPmWIbXszOnb7k3DTgVJEYi9jk_i0Lm4PixQXq3RYu2uZM/s320/juv+books.jpg" width="320" /></a>This month has been extremely busy for me at work which has meant not so much on the reading front. I am still slowly progressing through A Dance With Dragons and hope to finish it soon. What has kept me so busy? Well, yesterday we launched a seed library at the library branch I manage. It is the culmination of almost 5 months worth of work and we are the first location in the county to launch one. I am so excited to offer this to our library patrons and also really proud of the staff at my branch who banded together and worked their butts off<br />
to make this happen.<br />
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Also since March is reading month, we've been partnering with the local schools in a variety of ways. We've hosted multiple classrooms at the library for book talks which means I have read/skimmed over more middle grade books in the past month than I've probably touched since I was that age. This coming week we have one more class visiting and then we will be at parent teacher conferences issuing library cards. We are fortunate to have an awesome Friends of the Library group who has agreed to sponsor a pizza party for the class that achieves the largest percentage of library card sign ups this month. I am continually amazed that our staff of 3 people (of which I am the only full time person), can make all this happen in addition to all of our regularly scheduled programming. <br />
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<b>Books on the TBR I hope to finish this month:</b><br />
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A Dance with Dragons (Have mercy George R.R. Martin with these massive books!)<br />
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Secondborn by Amy A. Bartol (discovered this one while doing book ordering for the month)<br />
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Authority by Jeff Vandermeer (2nd book in Southern Reach Trilogy. The first was Annihilation which is the movie that just came out starring Natalie Portman-thoughts on the book coming soon...).<br />
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Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple (next book club selection)<br />
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And a few nerdy librarian books I am reading to see if I want to buy them for us to use at my branch:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Adults Just Wanna Have Fun: Programs for Emerging Adults by Audrey Barbakoff</li>
<li>The Handbook of Storytime Programs by Judy Freeman</li>
<li>1,000 Fingerplays and Action Rhymes: A Sourcebook by Barbara A. Scott</li>
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And now I'm off to tackle some of that pile in addition to the books pictured above which I am reading for the 4th grade class we're doing book talks with this week. I'll leave you with a few pics of our repurposed card catalog which houses our seed library. :)</div>
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<br />Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-25605187005428295552018-02-11T19:33:00.003-05:002018-02-11T21:49:10.096-05:00A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Song of Ice and Fire series is the only time I have ever watched a TV series based on the books without reading the books first. I love Game of Thrones and couldn't see myself slogging through five 1,000+ page books before I allowed myself to give in and see what the fuss was about. Surprisingly, none of the books have felt like I was laboring through them-until this one. Originally George R. R. Martin had intended books 4 and 5 to be one book but when he realized how massive that story had become he decided to split them into two different novels whose story lines ran parallel to each other. Feast for Crows follows the characters in the South (King's Landing and the war in Westeros and Dorne mainly). The 5th book follows the northern story line (the wall, beyond-the-wall, and Daenerys across the narrow sea). Sadly that means that book four is almost completely lacking in some favorite characters (Tyrion, Dany, Jon Snow).<br />
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As this book is geographically divided it focuses a lot on the war in Westeros, Brienne's search for Sansa, and Cersei's scheming. While this is not a bad thing, it is not nearly the level of excitement of the previous three novels. I think it is inevitable that every series has an installment that suffers from middle book syndrome and I think that this book is it for A Song of Ice and Fire. I repeat, this is not a bad book. It just gets bogged down a bit because it has to include all the necessary details to move the story along. Interestingly enough, this book deviated a bit more from what the tv series has shown which is fine. I'm curious to see how much further they diverge as the series goes on. Normally I do not read two huge books back to back because it is just mentally draining to read several big books in a row, but since I missed the other half of the characters missing from this installment so much I am going to soldier on with A Dance With Dragons.<br />
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<br />Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-76225804206387051482018-02-11T01:01:00.003-05:002018-02-11T01:01:49.467-05:00X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I finished two novels this week and I'll post my thoughts on the second one later this week but first my thoughts on X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon. This book was chosen as this year's Great Michigan Read. Every year a book is chosen by the Michigan Humanities Council and the whole state reads this as their book club selection. All books chosen generally have something to do with Michigan. This one is a fictional young adult adult novel written by Malcolm X's daughter which focuses on his younger years. I have to admit, I didn't think I was going to enjoy this book as much as I did and I think it is mainly because it changed my perspective of who this man was by learning where he came from. <br />
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As I was born almost 20 years after Malcolm X was assassinated, I remained pretty ignorant of much of his life story (outside the Denzel Washington movie which I vaguely remember watching a long time ago). For instance I had no idea that he had such strong ties to Michigan (grew up in Lansing), how he became involved with the Nation of Islam, what the turning point in his life was which turned him from petty criminal to prominent civil rights warrior, and really what the differences were between his championing of civil rights and that of his contemporaries. Another surprise? This book was well written and really easy to read. I finished it in just over a day. I led the discussion for this book at our morning book club last Wednesday and even though we had a small group, it was a very good discussion. This is not a book I would have chosen to read on my own but it has definitely piqued my interest in learning more about the civil rights movement. My only disclaimer here is this book was written for a YA adult audience and since it does contain references to drugs and sex on a regular basis, this might be better for older teens. Not sure I'm ready for my 13 year old to read it quite yet, but definitely a worthy read.<br />
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-26303387730156536612018-02-03T22:22:00.000-05:002018-02-03T22:23:32.487-05:00Ready Player One and other book to movies this year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I actually had no intention of reading this book until I saw the previews for the upcoming movie when we went to see The Last Jedi. Afterwards I went home and looked up the synopsis which was:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape."</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So yeah, I'm a child of the 80's who loves science fiction/fantasy and dystopian. This seemed to land squarely in that spectrum so sure, why not? First, this book is clearly written by a walking video game and pop culture encyclopedia. If you love vintage video games, and TV shows there are an abundance of references to them here. The story itself was engaging but also left me feeling a bit conflicted. There were times when things seemed to line up a little too well for Wade. I found the descriptions of the worlds in the Oasis intriguing. The book honestly had me wondering if we will reach this type of scenario at one point-the world steadily goes to hell while the human population distracts itself with technology to escape. I also kept getting the feeling that some of this is going to translate much better on screen than it does in print. I did enjoy this much more than I expected. Of course this may be because I grew up in the era this book focuses on and managed to catch 95% of the references. I'm really looking forward to the movie when it comes out next month and as I'm one of those weirdos who will not see the movie unless I've read the book, now I can actually see it when it comes out!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It has been a LOOONG wait for the 3rd installment due to Dylan O'Brien's injuries while filming it. I might even have to go back and watch the first two since so much time has passed between this one and the last. I really liked the books, although was not happy with the changes they made in the first movie which deviated from the book version. This one just came out January 26th.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Also saw the preview for this in the theater. The preview looked good, but then I saw somewhere it was actually a book first, read the blurb and thought "Wow the book sounds like it is going to be better than the movie!" <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17934530-annihilation?from_search=true">Read </a></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17934530-annihilation?from_search=true">book blurb here</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ordered it from the library and am now patiently waiting for it to arrive. While putting it on hold I discovered this is actually book one in a trilogy so I'm hoping it's good and I can read the whole thing. The movie comes out the 23rd of this month.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I don't think I have picked this up since grade school but have fond memories of it. The casting looks interesting so I think it's time to read it again and then go see the movie when it comes out March 9th. We are starting middle school book club back up at the local school and this is the first one they are reading. I'm not leading this book club (my coworker has bravely volunteered to take on leading teen book club since I lead morning book club and my other coworker leads evening book club). Think I may read it anyway though.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have not read this book but my good friend read it and raved about it. I will be speeding through this one before the May 11th release date. I also adore Cate Blanchett who is starring in this one.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Confession: I am hopelessly addicted to historical dramas no matter how hokey or fast and loose with history they are. The CW's series Reign was my guilty pleasure while it was on and I was so so disappointed when they decided not to renew it and had to cram the entire end of Mary's story into that last season. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mary, Queen of Scots which is based on the book by John Guy doesn't come out til November but I am curious to see how they spin the story. Mary is being played by Saoirse Ronan and Queen Elizabeth will be played by Margot Robbie. Hopefully it ends up being good (fingers crossed).</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I've had this book sitting on my shelf for 5+ years. I'm thinking about blowing the dust off it and giving it a go in case I decide to see the movie which is based on it coming out some time this year. The movie has Star Wars Daisy Ridley in it and Harry Potter's Tom Felton so that is a plus in my book.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Also looking forward to the next Fantastic Beasts movie and the new Mary Poppins movie with Emily Blunt. It's weird because I actually enjoyed the movie Mary Poppins much more than I liked the first book but maybe it is time to pick up Mary Poppins comes back and see if I like that one more.</span></span>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-75770100216227571902018-01-20T12:02:00.001-05:002018-01-20T12:08:46.447-05:00The Weekend Pile<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTJilpa4g1HHm1DKwvw1ZMJO0QB00ZzDAy5Em5H52VgXhjU9fljdntYWuw718gXdkf2KkeKCWlb0XmXGDSrwxRKo6wW8OZwEjvxsKtH61xxRa17Qq3euBs0MotMfMUP-IfgsMnlDb3o8/s1600/brie+and+books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="789" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTJilpa4g1HHm1DKwvw1ZMJO0QB00ZzDAy5Em5H52VgXhjU9fljdntYWuw718gXdkf2KkeKCWlb0XmXGDSrwxRKo6wW8OZwEjvxsKtH61xxRa17Qq3euBs0MotMfMUP-IfgsMnlDb3o8/s320/brie+and+books.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brie says: You really gonna read all this lady?</td></tr>
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So, I've got one on the Kindle, two from the library, one I picked up on a whim at Barnes & Noble in December, a movie to watch, and seven books to fold into hearts for a February book display this weekend. I'd also like to finish up my book letters and the last sign for my Dr. Seuss kids area. Think I may have planned a little too much for this weekend.......<br />
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This year, since I've found reading on my Kindle to be much speedier/easier than reading a hard copy, I've decided to peruse Overdrive and Hoopla to see what from my physical collection I can get digitally so I can pass the actual books onto other readers. Currently, I've got The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick checked out from Hoopla so I'm hoping to get to that.<br />
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I saw the preview for Ready Player One when we went to see The Last Jedi and thought it looked great but since I'm one of THOSE people who refuses to see the movie unless the book has been read first, I snatched it up when I spotted it at B&N. Fridays mornings at the library are preschool and tiny tots story time. I'm fortunate to have a coworker that is absolutely amazing at story time. Normally she does them both but since she had mandatory training during preschool time, it was my job to fill in. Anyone who has ever done a library story time knows how physically draining it is-all the dancing, jumping around, voices, shooing kids out of things they aren't supposed to touch while keeping the whole show going. When I got home yesterday it felt like I had been cracked in both knees with a sledge hammer. So, when I got home all I wanted was a nice good soak in the tub and something to read that wouldn't totally horrify me if it got dropped in the tub or splashed with water by accident. Grabbed my copy of Ready Player One and off I went-before 20 minutes later the water got cold and I had to get out. Still it managed to catch my interest in the first 30 pages so I"m going to keep going.<br />
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From the library I've got The Half-Drowned King by Linnea Hartsuyker. I actually saw the second one in the series when I was perusing the Harper Collins catalog. What is this? A historical series set in viking times? And I somehow missed the release of the first one? I love Bernard Cornwell's Saxon stories and the BBC's Last Kingdom based on them. I've watched all of Vikings up to the current season. I HAD TO GET this book. Also in February is Michigan's Great Michigan Read and it has been mandated that both of our book clubs discuss the chosen book which is X: by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon. This is a YA historical covering the early years of the life of Malcolm X.<br />
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I'm also excited to see Victoria & Abdul. Dame Judi Dench as Queen V? Yes please! On a side note, am I the only librarian that yells at the hubby if he even looks like he's thinking about renting something from Redbox or On Demand? Every single time I find myself saying "Why did you waste the money? I have it on order at the library-for FREE!!!"<br />
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Well, guess I better get cracking on that pile. Have a good (hopefully book-filled) weekend everyone!Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-36264669118839844292018-01-16T22:34:00.000-05:002018-01-16T22:36:27.872-05:00In the Library #1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So one of the things you don't learn in library school-if you work in a public library (especially one that isn't well funded) chances are you or a coworker will have to transform yourself into the poor man's Martha Stewart. Making decorations for the library and various items for programs is very time consuming but fortunately a lot of fun. Two years ago I wasn't even aware I had a crafty bone in my entire body. Here are some of the things that I've made in the past year.</div>
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<b>LAST WINTER:</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvQEZOriBnD2pP68DeGfouZCvg5NA9V8Qe3Xl2EPBTUhoCvRUM8T3XFJ9jmcoLdOlgaAYoFCnVFmD7m2jfJj6nJj-8L_DiuObaRxYYJ4zDnCQg4F6qCMZ4zc0rTj3jnvC3ZFBXxElShY/s1600/cardinal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="864" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvQEZOriBnD2pP68DeGfouZCvg5NA9V8Qe3Xl2EPBTUhoCvRUM8T3XFJ9jmcoLdOlgaAYoFCnVFmD7m2jfJj6nJj-8L_DiuObaRxYYJ4zDnCQg4F6qCMZ4zc0rTj3jnvC3ZFBXxElShY/s320/cardinal.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cardinal/Pine Cone Wreath for over the fire place<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjueElbEHFcRARLlZEQsLRnJ2ldIhGrLF7YKNGgSw0lIuXzf8fKOPkob_JSQEaMvQL7NmuWTkS66E8b-SFtdB7U48gBllFsIPfP9XHdLZhdNp-BA6GVvuoq-TOWJvSwWaoDuby1haBrYTg/s1600/snowflake2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="960" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjueElbEHFcRARLlZEQsLRnJ2ldIhGrLF7YKNGgSw0lIuXzf8fKOPkob_JSQEaMvQL7NmuWTkS66E8b-SFtdB7U48gBllFsIPfP9XHdLZhdNp-BA6GVvuoq-TOWJvSwWaoDuby1haBrYTg/s320/snowflake2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">snowmen lanterns for winter decorations</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6vSw5znQdbJYCZX77X1P6rlcZUKgSs8ab5B4VEb-511vFGXZV9ombuK3MX5yzC7zQ59uRz18IQKqobxX2PLKQTvLOjjWqASwx4X6asXfe4ORZOSyY1sZx24YtzTZEoUQAqJQNv6Yb8E/s1600/snowflake1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="906" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6vSw5znQdbJYCZX77X1P6rlcZUKgSs8ab5B4VEb-511vFGXZV9ombuK3MX5yzC7zQ59uRz18IQKqobxX2PLKQTvLOjjWqASwx4X6asXfe4ORZOSyY1sZx24YtzTZEoUQAqJQNv6Yb8E/s320/snowflake1.jpg" width="302" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snowflake wreath for above the circulation desk</td></tr>
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LAST SPRING:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi05CH24GdOD4tunU5Z4HzJeq2ASauAL4H4mYlOlVwDqx8s2jFsp1UHtapGy1lPWYCwWyOtPriLjHmNhtryOsUKRAOLQdOhiMlRrNN2xkyfZ4IstBQg_So4-hc4984dFO3UG9HwuJv9rFE/s1600/balloons1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="852" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi05CH24GdOD4tunU5Z4HzJeq2ASauAL4H4mYlOlVwDqx8s2jFsp1UHtapGy1lPWYCwWyOtPriLjHmNhtryOsUKRAOLQdOhiMlRrNN2xkyfZ4IstBQg_So4-hc4984dFO3UG9HwuJv9rFE/s320/balloons1.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hot air balloons and clouds for kids area</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRLr2FFLQMgNdARz2M9Txa6CooSgTSMVJCYrgi8TAMvTVH3Kt9DDUAYU9LiqHwFLoQCrZ06vUIWnodKKZp34PSudxiW3WYRMphxHHeiSm_Y5XHtShkO-M2aLqM3HO1Es1DENiUCEhJ9L8/s1600/balloons2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="960" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRLr2FFLQMgNdARz2M9Txa6CooSgTSMVJCYrgi8TAMvTVH3Kt9DDUAYU9LiqHwFLoQCrZ06vUIWnodKKZp34PSudxiW3WYRMphxHHeiSm_Y5XHtShkO-M2aLqM3HO1Es1DENiUCEhJ9L8/s320/balloons2.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div>
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<b>LAST SUMMER:</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjqWSbB5XCsvka783GpT0s8MkaO5q88kJALuB0rxSs0zePbHvdXkFTAtNji4ty-unonRyXh8eFldZnCQroWYgWvtvUFl-Hf2XyonoYb5fSfOqK9q-jvd7kh08_4BrWjy0-MmriQ52QTU/s1600/jazz1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="960" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjqWSbB5XCsvka783GpT0s8MkaO5q88kJALuB0rxSs0zePbHvdXkFTAtNji4ty-unonRyXh8eFldZnCQroWYgWvtvUFl-Hf2XyonoYb5fSfOqK9q-jvd7kh08_4BrWjy0-MmriQ52QTU/s320/jazz1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Signs for our Jazz Age Murder Mystery</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbk-L2dzucj1p7cYTzZxTDYVSuvXf3WyIkqzzENB3UnMVscdCP7srGw5RRLqw3eCq3JaP9sWFVgus9eRbfGcX7Ft30atWW8cY1z85QMBRWLOLiHvxa0ZnMs2f-KkaVpwb62G-vbxOEaxg/s1600/jazz2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbk-L2dzucj1p7cYTzZxTDYVSuvXf3WyIkqzzENB3UnMVscdCP7srGw5RRLqw3eCq3JaP9sWFVgus9eRbfGcX7Ft30atWW8cY1z85QMBRWLOLiHvxa0ZnMs2f-KkaVpwb62G-vbxOEaxg/s320/jazz2.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvAqsKqzIgy-92_b1Y4bSCoHiiVIAx2qRX-p3Wy75wrAtZpzIYqHyUIMthdLf9G4ZH-NwNqxYIYnFtNAhfWRkEgxYyy_t6SRK4WTvQctmugLSzYFaQ-AXdG4O3ZvqQT8HnU2giw6i-So/s1600/light+sabers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="564" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvAqsKqzIgy-92_b1Y4bSCoHiiVIAx2qRX-p3Wy75wrAtZpzIYqHyUIMthdLf9G4ZH-NwNqxYIYnFtNAhfWRkEgxYyy_t6SRK4WTvQctmugLSzYFaQ-AXdG4O3ZvqQT8HnU2giw6i-So/s320/light+sabers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We made light sabers just like these for Star Wars Day.....</div>
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<b>HALLOWEEN:</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCebN0c60xGnAQFamcjLlv8nIo7lvLXcgrZoufuD-lUFxThai_q9iom_H99wsyNQEc9PheckDdOURcafBROzV-1L7Cbr7eEMpMtoZ27rsWvGsTnmlUxSXYSL1iJlCtDVyoqoTXX28oJSM/s1600/potter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="634" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCebN0c60xGnAQFamcjLlv8nIo7lvLXcgrZoufuD-lUFxThai_q9iom_H99wsyNQEc9PheckDdOURcafBROzV-1L7Cbr7eEMpMtoZ27rsWvGsTnmlUxSXYSL1iJlCtDVyoqoTXX28oJSM/s320/potter.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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Harry Potter Pumpkin</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxdMeScwibjAiJt19g2F0b_Lgoa3YcWOVebZGyluDgt3Jd5Req5X-8Dlw9Q7esa1cpHkgg3OUgAOsuy4TXt-iCVW0BYQKlqFp0hwr27O_ha4ekrUd7xKYnzehGxK0MOXkieGLzJ-_M5A/s1600/pigeon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="945" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxdMeScwibjAiJt19g2F0b_Lgoa3YcWOVebZGyluDgt3Jd5Req5X-8Dlw9Q7esa1cpHkgg3OUgAOsuy4TXt-iCVW0BYQKlqFp0hwr27O_ha4ekrUd7xKYnzehGxK0MOXkieGLzJ-_M5A/s320/pigeon.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pigeon Pumpkin<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgd1hQAA2onJ3tRw2yynyB0MSHjUhaVoYVxi9XKiModdxlYfSVUpo-dHiOeQ6qk1YmoLEUwbDIDlGb0cOmN4ihpX9-oyye0WA6-mS1k1BmmeUTQ5_iOMaPv-1ixKQoWBnHjefu6Da2XFU/s1600/pete.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="786" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgd1hQAA2onJ3tRw2yynyB0MSHjUhaVoYVxi9XKiModdxlYfSVUpo-dHiOeQ6qk1YmoLEUwbDIDlGb0cOmN4ihpX9-oyye0WA6-mS1k1BmmeUTQ5_iOMaPv-1ixKQoWBnHjefu6Da2XFU/s320/pete.jpg" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pete the Cat Pumpkin<br />
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Sadly, Pete was punctured and deflated into a gooey smelly puddle a week after I made him...<br />
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<b>MOST RECENT:</b><br />
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And finally, last month I did a Dr. Seuss makeover for the kids section of the library I am now managing.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEcYnNTtT_H46AWbDJdtTqc89rZG59oOQ_tzY8XWWSkWh7AULJH5qZTLeGAJsWl2aVJYxRL0ekh9b2Ax_x2qZfD8j12uwlj7DeUzrAyiF6DrBLeqIQciFaUiBcHemLXILrtnHi3mRulfQ/s1600/seuss3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="960" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEcYnNTtT_H46AWbDJdtTqc89rZG59oOQ_tzY8XWWSkWh7AULJH5qZTLeGAJsWl2aVJYxRL0ekh9b2Ax_x2qZfD8j12uwlj7DeUzrAyiF6DrBLeqIQciFaUiBcHemLXILrtnHi3mRulfQ/s320/seuss3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat in the Hat wreath</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEnYbLCtlCzNrmEIl0KiX3FsZRys7PeUYOQsSev10AR22Ewj3QY4s0xgl6q-RIvqc8GSV6ph3N36VHGlTEuI3o4EpDnVL-DabNrkjrpjE9zPKmPgv6fQKUaqNMYsAq9houLxre7bH7Re0/s1600/seuss2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="749" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEnYbLCtlCzNrmEIl0KiX3FsZRys7PeUYOQsSev10AR22Ewj3QY4s0xgl6q-RIvqc8GSV6ph3N36VHGlTEuI3o4EpDnVL-DabNrkjrpjE9zPKmPgv6fQKUaqNMYsAq9houLxre7bH7Re0/s320/seuss2.jpg" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seuss quote signs for the walls</td></tr>
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We also did Truffula trees, the fish in the bowl from the Cat in the Hat and a One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish flower display in a bucket. I'm still working on one more sign and "READ" book letters featuring Seuss characters. </div>
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Honestly, getting to be creative is one of my favorite things about my job. Now time to put my thinking cap on and create a plan for the teen area. Aspiring librarians-if your motto is "With Pinterest and a glue gun anything is possible" librarianship may be the right job for you!</div>
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-88119046596230361202018-01-14T12:26:00.002-05:002018-02-03T22:34:56.698-05:00A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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How do I love Deanna Raybourn's books? Let me count the ways...<br />
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She is one of my go to authors when I have just read something with heavy subject matter content and I'm looking for something fun, fast, and with characters I really enjoy. My love affair with her books first began with Silent in the Grave (#1 in the Lady Julia Grey series) and was greeted by this line:<br />
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<i><span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">“To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></b></span></i><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">How can you resist a book with an opening line like that? For this series I have read book 1, half of book 2 (unfortunately I attempted to read #2 while in the middle of 3 classes for grad school) and now this one. Book 3 alluded to events in book 2 but not enough to spoil what I haven't read yet. Veronica Speedwell is one of those intrepid female characters that I have come to love in historical fiction-doesn't care a fig for what society thinks, intelligent, holds her own against any man she comes across, but with a softer side that peeks out every once in awhile. Yes, some readers who like their characters to fit the mold of the time may bristle at such a character but personally I love them! Veronica is right up there with Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody, Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs, Ariana Franklin's Adelia Aguilar and Lauren Willig's Miss Gwen Meadows poking people into submission with her parasol.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">This particular adventure follows Veronica and Stoker as they get sucked into a giant vat of intrigue while solving the disappearance of Stoker's former best friend and partner-a mystery that casts an unflattering light on Stoker if they do not get to the bottom of it. Synopsis is here:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><i>London, 1888. As colorful and unfettered as the butterflies she collects, Victorian adventuress Veronica Speedwell can’t resist the allure of an exotic mystery—particularly one involving her enigmatic colleague, Stoker. His former expedition partner has vanished from an archaeological dig with a priceless diadem unearthed from the newly discovered tomb of an Egyptian princess. This disappearance is just the latest in a string of unfortunate events that have plagued the controversial expedition, and rumors abound that the curse of the vengeful princess has been unleashed as the shadowy figure of Anubis himself stalks the streets of London.<br /><br />But the perils of an ancient curse are not the only challenges Veronica must face as sordid details and malevolent enemies emerge from Stoker’s past. Caught in a tangle of conspiracies and threats—and thrust into the public eye by an enterprising new foe—Veronica must separate facts from fantasy to unravel a web of duplicity that threatens to cost Stoker everything. . . .</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> I'm always pleasantly surprised when I don't figure out the mystery before the end of the book. Also, while I'm sure must be quite tempting to throw these two complicated souls together in a romantic relationship, instead the author keeps us anxiously waiting for the moment this will FINALLY happen (I mean we know its going to eventually...). I have come to appreciate the slow building of the deeper relationship between the two. Anyway,</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14px;"> really did enjoy this one and cant wait for the next. Thank you to Netgalley for the ebook ARC. :)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14px;">On another note, I am happy that things have calmed down at work and here at home to the point where I am actually able to read books again. Last year I only managed 31 books which is absolutely horrendous for me. Of course, until august I was finishing my MLIS and then in September I started my new job as the lead librarian of my branch. So now I have joined the ranks of "librarians who grit their teeth and smile when some poor innocent soul expounds on how great it must be to have a job were you get to read all day". What with the meetings, meetings and more meetings, book ordering, programs to run, collections to develop and weed, I can honestly say I have not read a single page while at work in over 3 years. Nice that the stars have finally aligned and I am free to dive into my piles of glorious books again!</span>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-333825734127796962018-01-08T22:40:00.000-05:002018-01-08T22:40:12.370-05:00I need to talk about We Need to Talk About Kevin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First, I have decided to resurrect this blog just to have a place to post my book thoughts and record my challenges. No official reviewing happening here, just a place to babble about what I'm reading. I'm glad I decided to do so because after picking up We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver on a whim, there are so many thoughts rattling around in my head after almost being late to work so I could finish it that I don't know where to start. Here is the synopsis:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Two years ago, Eva Khatchadourian's son, Kevin, murdered seven of his fellow high-school students, a cafeteria worker, and a popular algebra teacher. Because he was only fifteen at the time of the killings, he received a lenient sentence and is now in a prison for young offenders in upstate New York. Telling the story of Kevin's upbringing, Eva addresses herself to her estranged husband through a series of letters. Fearing that her own shortcomings may have shaped what her son has become, she confesses to a deep, long-standing ambivalence about both motherhood in general and Kevin in particular. How much is her fault? Lionel Shriver tells a compelling, absorbing, and resonant story while framing these horrifying tableaux of teenage carnage as metaphors for the larger tragedy - the tragedy of a country where everything works, nobody starves, and anything can be bought but a sense of purpose.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes the subject matter of this book is as weighty as it sounds. First impressions? This is an epistolary novel where Eva writes lengthy letters to her husband Franklin. Her "voice" really grated on me at first as she had a rather grandiose way of conveying her recollections. It becomes apparent right away that this lady was not cut out to be a parent. Her selfishness, unrealistic expectations, and her inability to commit fully to her child serves as a source of tension in her marriage. The issues are exacerbated by the fact that her husband refuses to face reality and see that their precious child has serious psychological issues and it is not just his wife only wanting to find fault wherever she can. Together Eva, her husband Franklin, and their truly psychopathic progeny Kevin make for a perfect storm of screwed up family dynamics. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">After getting further into the book, I adjusted to Eva's way with words and was able to focus more on the story itself. It progresses with a series of increasingly disturbing occurrences leading up to the massacre. What started as a "What the hell am I reading and why did I pick this up?" scenario ended with me speeding to the end so I could finish and make it to the library on time. I had an inkling in the back of my mind of how this book might end and while I was right, it still left me on edge to read it. This is one of those books that came out of nowhere and probably will stick with me for awhile as I cannot begin to wrap my head around how three people could fail each other so thoroughly and with such disastrous results. Glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and continued reading even though I was really not enjoying the first 3rd of the book. I'm looking forward to watching the movie starring Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly. I usually read a book and move on to the next without feeling the need for much discussion. This one gut punched me to the point where I felt compelled to tell 4 people about this book today. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-71750532054964102302016-03-14T20:54:00.000-04:002016-03-14T20:54:17.292-04:00It's Been a LONG Time!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0N7SiSy8Lut4IWHc-4xl6R8klDeAgL9b4JVtG3mh_aQCQukPDPvU4I6X5UKDO4GnxlVD_sjm4E7cDZEpX634lTRezXNfC-gs8M-8PavfIb06ieLaGtxsrTuqv73hjkQ1LumxCtRgEXM/s1600/hello+kitty.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0N7SiSy8Lut4IWHc-4xl6R8klDeAgL9b4JVtG3mh_aQCQukPDPvU4I6X5UKDO4GnxlVD_sjm4E7cDZEpX634lTRezXNfC-gs8M-8PavfIb06ieLaGtxsrTuqv73hjkQ1LumxCtRgEXM/s200/hello+kitty.gif" width="200" /></a>I have been radio silent on this blog for just about two years now. Part of my absence was I got burnt out reviewing. Part of it was I started back to school to finish my Bachelor's degree and I was knee deep in the cat rescuing world saving poor helpless kitties by the armload. Fast forward two years later and.....I'm even more busy than I was then! BUT I miss blogging so I have decided to give it another go.<br />
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Things have changed quite a bit for me in the past two years. I have changed careers. I'm working as a Library Assistant/Floating Substitute for my local library system. I spend my working hours floating between 10 branches, filling in wherever they need me. I also got accepted into the graduate program for Library and Information Science at Wayne State University so hopefully I'll be running my own branch one day. A job constantly surrounded by books-can you think of anything better?<br />
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On the cat rescue front, I quit the rescue I was toiling away at for the last three years due to several insurmountable disagreements. Myself and my two crazy cat lady friends (we are collectively known as the Sister Wives) are now free agents in the cat rescue world helping all the local rescues wherever we can with donations and attending fund raisers. After months of this nomadic existence we think we may have found a couple ways to truly make an impact and we are super excited about it (More about this in future posts)!<br />
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So what in the world does that mean for this blog now that I've decided to do it again? Will there still be reviews here? The answer is yes but they will be pretty informal and only for books I am reading personally. I have decided not to do reviews for tours or publishers or anything like that here. My reading tastes have broadened a bit too so it probably will not be all historical fiction like it was previously.<br />
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I will still be doing the historical fiction preview pages, the recently released page, and the Tudor book page. I'm working on updating all of that this week.<br />
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The biggest change (besides the site design) will be that this blog will be more of a general purpose blog as opposed to strictly books. There will be cats (and gratuitous pictures of my dog too), craft projects myself and my fellow Sister Wives are working on and just life in general posts in addition to the books.<br />
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I can't wait to dive back in and catch up on all of my favorite blogs. Sadly there are quite a few I used to follow avidly that are no longer around but I'm looking forward to discovering new blogs too.<br />
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So, in short-Hello Again!Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-53611108530438994152014-04-20T15:48:00.002-04:002014-04-20T15:49:57.414-04:00REVIEW: Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho1u9qN_D_X0w44TH1wK9AikuoIKlyFqRDGN934yYgEF_2r5wi1Avh6D4VdHdGExMZ1q8n61GwIBXGkYBFO1TXAummOc5KCQ2EztLiILIxSPAZxIzy_lKMW6JXgCT86GnmnqB6vrkW9gU/s1600/whistling+past+the+graveyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho1u9qN_D_X0w44TH1wK9AikuoIKlyFqRDGN934yYgEF_2r5wi1Avh6D4VdHdGExMZ1q8n61GwIBXGkYBFO1TXAummOc5KCQ2EztLiILIxSPAZxIzy_lKMW6JXgCT86GnmnqB6vrkW9gU/s320/whistling+past+the+graveyard.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
<b>Synopsis:</b> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><span id="freeText18382661138827673188">The summer of 1963
begins like any other for nine-year-old Starla Claudelle. Born to
teenage parents in Mississippi, Starla is being raised by a strict
paternal grandmother, Mamie, whose worst fear is that Starla will turn
out like her mother. Starla hasn’t seen her momma since she was three,
but is convinced that her mother will keep her promise to take Starla
and her daddy to Nashville, where her mother hopes to become a famous
singer—and that one day her family will be whole and perfect.<br /><br />When
Starla is grounded on the Fourth of July, she sneaks out to see the
parade. After getting caught, Starla’s fear that Mamie will make good on
her threats and send her to reform school cause her to panic and run
away from home. Once out in the country, Starla is offered a ride by a
black woman, Eula, who is traveling with a white baby. She happily
accepts a ride, with the ultimate goal of reaching her mother in
Nashville. As the two unlikely companions make their long and
sometimes dangerous journey, Starla’s eyes are opened to the harsh
realities of 1963 southern segregation. Through talks with Eula,
reconnecting with her parents, and encountering a series of surprising
misadventures, Starla learns to let go of long-held dreams and realizes
family is forged from those who will sacrifice all for you, no matter if
bound by blood or by the heart.</span></i></span><br />
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<b>My Thoughts</b>: So here is the thing. I really do like books with child protagonists if the author is able to successfully write the character without imposing adult viewpoints/actions/mannerisms that totally mess with the authenticity of the character's voice. For me they have to contain that innocence-an unblemished view of the world that breathes life into the story. In Whistling Past the Graveyard Susan Crandall tackles the weighty issue of race relations in the deep South during the early 1960's and uses charming and spirited Starla Claudelle to spin an endearing story of adversity, confronting harsh realities, and finding your inner strength.<br />
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I was really drawn to this story and particularly the interaction between Starla and Eula, both people who are facing difficult circumstances but find their courage from relying on each other. Eula knows it is dangerous to even be seen with a white girl and a white baby but nevertheless she follows her inner compass that tells her these two need her help and she is determined to do the right thing by them. Eula and Starla encounter many obstacles on the journey to Nashville to locate Starla's mother. Along the way Starla's innocence gives way to the hard truth of reality but by the end of this novel you are rooting for both Starla and Eula to find their happy ending. This book reminded me a lot of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Although I wasn't sure what to expect when cracking this book open, what I found was a beautifully told story that held my attention from beginning to end. I will definitely be checking out more from this author.<br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><i><b>This book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley. These are my honest thoughts on the book.</b></i></span>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-11174438958078517282014-01-18T21:35:00.001-05:002014-01-23T20:00:33.719-05:00For the forseeable future....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwrGi1SmQhKRy9AjSbkTck7D0tN0fle_pbViMEtsUGBNROqNypnwbpcx4HcHL8aM8mQnmOWfNwNWmrxxRJ-nEwWQH_g8THbwgjt_hni5TFuzUMhPdaGX8TvBdBQ4mD2nMmJuabU8OLVk/s1600/maggie1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwrGi1SmQhKRy9AjSbkTck7D0tN0fle_pbViMEtsUGBNROqNypnwbpcx4HcHL8aM8mQnmOWfNwNWmrxxRJ-nEwWQH_g8THbwgjt_hni5TFuzUMhPdaGX8TvBdBQ4mD2nMmJuabU8OLVk/s1600/maggie1.jpg" height="320" width="218" /></a></div>
I have been absent from this blog in any meaningful capacity for so long I considered not even writing a post explaining why. I blame cats. Yes CATS- such as the lovely lady to the left. They have completely taken over my life. When I got into the rescue business a year ago my intentions were to help out here and there-maybe devote a couple weekends a month cleaning cages out at Petco. That is how it started out. Then along came a poor gorgeous sad looking homeless kitty by the name of Buster who needed a foster or he would be sent back to the pound and I said I'd do it. He was the first of 42 cats that came through my household in 2013 and went on to find their forever homes.<br />
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Now in place of all the reading and reviewing I was doing I am fostering 8 cats at a time in addition to the 5 that are permanent residents here. The role of chief pooper scooper at Petco has blossomed into running the cat health clinic every week, scheduling them all for spay/neuter, maintaining the rescue's Petfinder page, devoting every Saturday and Sunday to doing adoptions out at Petco and pretty much anything else my fellow crazy cat ladies ask of me. The thing is despite having less time for pretty much anything else, I wouldn't trade it for the world. <br />
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Like many other bloggers there was also the realization that I really missed reading for pure enjoyment. My wish this year is to go through 2014 no strings attached book-wise. I am closing the door on blogging/reviewing indefinitely but am tucking the key away in a safe place for some time in the future. I have a feeling I'll be back at some point and of course I'll still be lurking and commenting on my favorite blogs but Maggie (that would be the pretty Torti up top) and I will be bidding you all adieu for now.....<br />
<br />Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-42813630279507520542013-11-24T10:00:00.000-05:002013-11-24T10:00:06.791-05:00April Historical Fiction Preview<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfSSgJNKWxAbL6B93GsVEsBSHCf3TpT_kLXkapE2fZLwgXCcbXZJrBV5f8sbfJsExM_Le9Q8b18-hBBVNxO3IrgekDVSjnFYKMMQuQ3APCaPnny9yT4LHvgPOPB9t72VKTkMr6oiBaC6k/s1600/girl+who+came+home.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfSSgJNKWxAbL6B93GsVEsBSHCf3TpT_kLXkapE2fZLwgXCcbXZJrBV5f8sbfJsExM_Le9Q8b18-hBBVNxO3IrgekDVSjnFYKMMQuQ3APCaPnny9yT4LHvgPOPB9t72VKTkMr6oiBaC6k/s200/girl+who+came+home.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Girl Who Came Home: A Novel
of the Titanic by Hazel Gaynor (Apr 1<sup>st</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ireland, 1912. Fourteen members of a small
village set sail on <i>RMS Titanic</i>, hoping to find a better life in
America. For seventeen-year-old Maggie Murphy, the journey is bittersweet.
Though her future lies in an unknown new place, her heart remains in Ireland
with Séamus, the sweetheart she left behind. When disaster strikes, Maggie is
one of the lucky few passengers in steerage who survives. Waking up alone in a
New York hospital, she vows never to speak of the terror and panic of that
terrible night ever again. Chicago,
1982. Adrift after the death of her father, Grace Butler struggles to decide
what comes next. When her Great Nana Maggie shares the painful secret she
harbored for almost a lifetime about the <i>Titanic</i>, the revelation gives
Grace new direction—and leads her and Maggie to unexpected reunions with those
they thought lost long ago.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The
Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell (in PB Apr 1<sup>st</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">Confessions
are Rose Baker’s job. A typist for the New York City Police Department, she
sits in judgment like a high priestess. Criminals come before her to admit
their transgressions, and, with a few strokes of the keys before her, she seals
their fate. But while she may hear about shootings, knifings, and crimes of
passion, as soon as she leaves the room, she reverts to a dignified and proper
lady. Until Odalie joins the typing pool. As Rose quickly falls under the
stylish, coquettish Odalie’s spell, she is lured into a sparkling underworld of
speakeasies and jazz. And what starts as simple fascination turns into an
obsession from which she may never recover.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Y2T5Itm3ajP0amHTyR-bszbsxNQbFZHu7WV3SkTP4rsnri-Ds1-datoNkMpMJE8iUE0F5j18nRfrgHA3Asja640KFs18EiN-KZkHsIj5NXUC3mx7TI6z8869V252oAhDwrHNJr3EKPI/s1600/miracle+thief.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Y2T5Itm3ajP0amHTyR-bszbsxNQbFZHu7WV3SkTP4rsnri-Ds1-datoNkMpMJE8iUE0F5j18nRfrgHA3Asja640KFs18EiN-KZkHsIj5NXUC3mx7TI6z8869V252oAhDwrHNJr3EKPI/s200/miracle+thief.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Miracle Thief by Iris Anthony
(Apr 1<sup>st</sup>)</b></span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In the darkest hour of the Dark Ages, when God often seemed
silent, saints and their relics offered a touchstone of hope. But in a quest
for the blessing of the divine, only the most ruthless of souls may win the
prize. With her trademark intricate storytelling, Iris Anthony shines a light
on the dark world of trading in dead bones. <i>The Miracle Thief </i>asks
timeless questions that reverberate with the modern soul: what do we value?
What is sacred? Do miracles really happen - or do we make them happen?</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUrwJog0Gg9a7DUxggXScV8UCb8AIyTcZqetRwxg273XdWgQ-6ufyZKTVQFZVJ4Qg6hJ0ERiH7hxcfg6vOOswX2Gm4ecK6sZU8-5HkbiH888m-wcxZopH4XylRgRJUE5APJfb3VsWBBY/s300/silence+for+the+dead.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUrwJog0Gg9a7DUxggXScV8UCb8AIyTcZqetRwxg273XdWgQ-6ufyZKTVQFZVJ4Qg6hJ0ERiH7hxcfg6vOOswX2Gm4ecK6sZU8-5HkbiH888m-wcxZopH4XylRgRJUE5APJfb3VsWBBY/s200/silence+for+the+dead.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Silence for the Dead by Simone St James (Apr
1<sup>st</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In 1919, Kitty Weekes, pretty, resourceful, and on the
run, falsifies her background to obtain a nursing position at Portis House, a
remote hospital for soldiers left shell-shocked by the horrors of the Great
War. Hiding the shame of their mental instability in what was once a
magnificent private estate, the patients suffer from nervous attacks and
tormenting dreams. But something more is going on at Portis House—its plaster
is crumbling, its plumbing makes eerie noises, and strange breaths of cold waft
through the empty rooms. It’s known that the former occupants left abruptly,
but where did they go? And why do the patients all seem to share the same
nightmare, one so horrific that they dare not speak of it? Kitty finds a dangerous ally in Jack Yates,
an inmate who may be a war hero, a madman… or maybe both. But even as Kitty and
Jack create a secret, intimate alliance to uncover the truth, disturbing
revelations suggest the presence of powerful spectral forces. And when a
medical catastrophe leaves them even more isolated, they must battle the menace
on their own, caught in the heart of a mystery that could destroy them both.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTlUuK7gTTazDZJKRRbEAxb1S7mJ-pyood4DQeRgEnqkRS6NSsyIYsHbj2Q1RH2KxqyA-UKL-KVzvaJCNzPLiG2ycxX8K7QiJe9Mi2EFEOeOio8ULc0JV-hQB9xVXQxykjhCix5lWA9ZI/s300/island+of+doves.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTlUuK7gTTazDZJKRRbEAxb1S7mJ-pyood4DQeRgEnqkRS6NSsyIYsHbj2Q1RH2KxqyA-UKL-KVzvaJCNzPLiG2ycxX8K7QiJe9Mi2EFEOeOio8ULc0JV-hQB9xVXQxykjhCix5lWA9ZI/s200/island+of+doves.jpg" width="122" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Island of Doves by Kelly O’Connor McNees
(Apr 1<sup>st</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Susannah Fraser lives in one of Buffalo’s finest mansions,
but her monstrous husband makes the home a terrible prison. When a local nun
offers to help her escape, Susannah boards a steamship headed for Mackinac
Island and a chance at freedom. Magdelaine
Fonteneau has seen her share of tragedy—a husband murdered before her eyes, two
sisters lost—and she sees offering Susannah refuge in her island home as
atonement for her many regrets. This act of kindness changes Susannah in ways
she never could have imagined as she finds solace in the company of others who
carry their own secrets and scars. Only together can they untangle their
pasts—and find a future bright with the promise of new life…</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">The Secret Life of William Shakespeare by
Jude Morgan (Apr 1<sup>st</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">How well do you know the man you love? How much do you
think you know about Shakespeare? What if they were one and the same? He is an
ordinary man: unwilling craftsman, ambitious actor, resentful son, almost
good-enough husband. And he is also a genius. The story of how a glove-maker
from Warwickshire became the greatest writer of them all is vaguely known to
most of us, but it would take an exceptional modern novelist to bring him to
life. And now at last Jude Morgan, acclaimed author of <i>Passion</i> and <i>The
Taste of Sorrow</i>, has taken Shakespeare's life, and created a masterpiece.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGqVk0tGzCKoDztArXNfKBqXJQXlJGA80XSeshN2m04IS2DUjatq-flxvz84UTI-jkkKa59HvkbtKV_vVR_k9PI_FE5EVpDiUeLeM9cAaQOatW_QuiEjlivThe51I0Ljh6Jfg50Mwyg4/s300/red+lily+crown.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGqVk0tGzCKoDztArXNfKBqXJQXlJGA80XSeshN2m04IS2DUjatq-flxvz84UTI-jkkKa59HvkbtKV_vVR_k9PI_FE5EVpDiUeLeM9cAaQOatW_QuiEjlivThe51I0Ljh6Jfg50Mwyg4/s200/red+lily+crown.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">The Red Lily Crown: A Novel of Medici
Florence by Elizabeth Loupas (Apr 1<sup>st</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">April, 1574, Florence, Italy. Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici
lies dying. The city is paralyzed with dread, for the next man to wear the red
lily crown will be Prince Francesco: despotic, dangerous, and obsessed with
alchemy. Chiara Nerini, the troubled
daughter of an anti-Medici bookseller, sets out to save her starving family by
selling her dead father’s rare alchemical equipment to the prince. Instead she
is trapped in his household—imprisoned and forcibly initiated as a virgin
acolyte in Francesco’s quest for power and immortality. Undaunted, she seizes her
chance to pursue undreamed-of power of her own.
Witness to sensuous intrigues and brutal murder plots, Chiara seeks a
safe path through the labyrinth of Medici tyranny and deception. Beside her
walks the prince’s mysterious English alchemist Ruanno, her friend and teacher,
driven by his own dark goals. Can Chiara trust him to keep her secrets even to
love her or will he prove to be her most treacherous enemy of all?</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDWxK7eAD_tkqDH8xDfEOZL9rJmZt8UIma1PKjj9Q9b6B5bvqa_7zqU4wn9XdMZwDV1Huz6lYh_drocmb3Fu07vjQ0mRGFhU5t9UaKIRGVUt1Pw47Etcjb-NttGEx_26OZ2Zi_bSouGo/s1600/white+princess+pb.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDWxK7eAD_tkqDH8xDfEOZL9rJmZt8UIma1PKjj9Q9b6B5bvqa_7zqU4wn9XdMZwDV1Huz6lYh_drocmb3Fu07vjQ0mRGFhU5t9UaKIRGVUt1Pw47Etcjb-NttGEx_26OZ2Zi_bSouGo/s200/white+princess+pb.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The
White Princess by Philippa Gregory (in PB Apr 1<sup>st</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">When Henry Tudor picks up the
crown of England from the mud of Bosworth field, he knows he must marry the
princess of the enemy house—Elizabeth of York—to unify a country divided by war
for nearly two decades. But his bride is still in love with his slain enemy,
Richard III—and her mother and half of England dream of a missing heir, sent
into the unknown by the White Queen. While the new monarchy can win power, it
cannot win hearts in an England that plots for the triumphant return of the
House of York. Henry’s greatest fear is that somewhere a prince is waiting to
invade and reclaim the throne. When a young man who would be king leads his
army and invades England, Elizabeth has to choose between the new husband she
is coming to love and the boy who claims to be her beloved lost brother: the
rose of York come home at last.</span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhBDrPHfaRZXTOsjhgj_LHFZPDA0zPayUQHu8YEK8nzdaQEYmAWi8YToJKLPSH4SswLEeI-2B09_moLXe7QMSDc32KlmyoZRzEU9s3n08rnKiIoEfFADtPXDjQeV_SxKpxIoGNgqtq_0Q/s200/murder+on+high+holborn.jpg" width="130" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Murder on High Holborn by Susanna Gregory (Apr 1<sup>st</sup>)</span> </b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In
1665 England is facing war with the Dutch and the capital is awash with
rumors of conspiracy and sedition. These are more frenetic than normal
because of the recent sinking in the Thames of one of the largest ships
in the navy - a disastrous tragedy that could very well have been caused
by sabotage. As an experienced investigator, Thomas Chaloner knows that
there are very few grains of truth in the shifting sands of the
rumor-mill, but the loss of such an important warship and the murder of
Paul Ferine, a Groom of the Robes, in a brothel favoured by the elite of
the Palace of White Hall makes him scent a whiff of genuine treason. As
well as investigating the murder, Chaloner is charged with tracking
down the leaders of a fanatical sect known as the Fifth Monarchists. He
suspects his masters are not particularly concerned by their amateur
antics, and that the order for him to infiltrate the group is intended
to distract him from uncovering some unsavory facts about Ferine and his
courtly associates. Then, as he comes to know more about the Fifth
Monarchists and their meetings on High Holborn, he discovers a puzzling
number of connections - to both Ferine's murder and those involved with
the defense of the realm. Connections that he must disentangle before it
is too late to save the country ...</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKqNj5VeMPHEedPfV92dcCRIXvWKNtHIxx_CUkY8izwoxJeLUhrfY8H-HBlY2NmtwqDvF3gEbrlrTy-kHlEt1eMBSYQavcTkJ9PJSotPOuJJRGspLj3cLOpYozUvLB88P6zkJn7GM2z4c/s1600/templars+acre.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKqNj5VeMPHEedPfV92dcCRIXvWKNtHIxx_CUkY8izwoxJeLUhrfY8H-HBlY2NmtwqDvF3gEbrlrTy-kHlEt1eMBSYQavcTkJ9PJSotPOuJJRGspLj3cLOpYozUvLB88P6zkJn7GM2z4c/s200/templars+acre.jpg" width="130" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Templar's Acre by Michael Jecks (Apr 1st)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The
Holy Land, 1291. A war has been raging across these lands for decades.
The forces of the Crusaders have been pushed back again and again by the
Muslims and now just one city remains in Crusader control. That one
city stands between the past and the future, and must be defended at all
costs. That city is Acre. Into this battle where men will fight to the
death to defend their city comes a young boy. Green and scared, he has
never seen battle before. But he is on the run from a dark past and he
has no choice but to stay—and to stay means to fight. That boy is
Baldwin de Furnshill. This is the story of the siege of Acre, and of the
moment Baldwin first charged into battle. This is just the beginning.
The rest is history.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTU9mpFwSWK8dLhgvu0bIX_80vvCJXrXbzSbiheDz2hK89JwUccSv-KZPbWo0qL9s4E4ntKMY3hGGOoZ7O6kjjQSxL5RAzT6WZGSEl8_9vGr2fJL8_cN6bbIxYb7iYU5YHlRR7ZHk4qpE/s1600/frog+music.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTU9mpFwSWK8dLhgvu0bIX_80vvCJXrXbzSbiheDz2hK89JwUccSv-KZPbWo0qL9s4E4ntKMY3hGGOoZ7O6kjjQSxL5RAzT6WZGSEl8_9vGr2fJL8_cN6bbIxYb7iYU5YHlRR7ZHk4qpE/s200/frog+music.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Frog Music by Emma Donoghue (Apr 1<sup>st</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Summer of 1876: San Francisco is in the fierce
grip of a record-breaking heatwave and a smallpox epidemic. Through the window
of a railroad saloon, a young woman called Jenny Bonnet is shot dead. The
survivor, her friend Blanche Beunon, is a French burlesque dancer. Over the
next three days, she will risk everything to bring Jenny's murderer to
justice--if he doesn't track her down first. The story Blanche struggles to
piece together is one of free-love bohemians, desperate paupers and arrogant
millionaires; of jealous men, icy women and damaged children. It's the secret
life of Jenny herself, a notorious character who breaks the law every morning
by getting dressed: a charmer as slippery as the frogs she hunts.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq77FW481Ed_dx6ReBJEk3yzIJTr8ezGtpwyaU9Feml3O1HGNgB5t-wGEGQTIQ39BHU0uZCAIUSpFxQoYtmcOoJXLXngnWatkne7lYxLvjpmgyTA40_LHJnePyH6PbRYVCpHiiAYW99B0/s1600/love+and+treasure.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq77FW481Ed_dx6ReBJEk3yzIJTr8ezGtpwyaU9Feml3O1HGNgB5t-wGEGQTIQ39BHU0uZCAIUSpFxQoYtmcOoJXLXngnWatkne7lYxLvjpmgyTA40_LHJnePyH6PbRYVCpHiiAYW99B0/s200/love+and+treasure.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Love & Treasure by Ayelet Waldman (Apr 1<sup>st</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In 1945 on the outskirts of Salzburg,
victorious American soldiers capture a train filled with unspeakable riches:
piles of fine gold watches; mountains of fur coats; crates filled
with wedding rings, silver picture frames, family heirlooms, and Shabbat candlesticks
passed down through generations. Jack Wiseman, a tough, smart New York Jew, is
the lieutenant charged with guarding this treasure—a responsibility that grows
more complicated when he meets Ilona, a fierce, beautiful Hungarian who has
lost everything in the ravages of the Holocaust. Seventy years later, amid the
shadowy world of art dealers who profit off the sins of previous generations,
Jack gives a necklace to his granddaughter, Natalie Stein, and charges her with
searching for an unknown woman—a woman whose portrait and fate come to haunt
Natalie, a woman whose secret may help Natalie to understand the guilt her
grandfather will take to his grave and to find a way out of the mess she has
made of her own life.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDDwSeqLdVkseFexh75LVZooJQ3FjgSY18dqvOekoeDilG_PB-oSiaLsLxryFPQxZzVXpWvsxCRRPaavyWlu8nUkJ8JOCK-fgzfFJScFgo9nkY35zsRu2Zo7UEIYB4nW5j5Nv9gh9UYqQ/s1600/sedition.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDDwSeqLdVkseFexh75LVZooJQ3FjgSY18dqvOekoeDilG_PB-oSiaLsLxryFPQxZzVXpWvsxCRRPaavyWlu8nUkJ8JOCK-fgzfFJScFgo9nkY35zsRu2Zo7UEIYB4nW5j5Nv9gh9UYqQ/s200/sedition.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Sedition by Katharine Grant (Apr 1<sup>st</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">London, 1794: The problem: Four nouveau rich
fathers with five marriageable daughters. The plan: The young women will learn
to play the piano, give a concert for young Englishmen who have titles but no
fortunes, and will marry very well indeed. The complications: The lascivious
(and French) piano teacher; the piano maker’s jealous (and musically gifted)
daughter; the one of these marriageable daughters with a mating plan of her
own. While it might be a truth universally acknowledged that a man in
possession of a title and no money must be in want of a fortune, what does a
sexually awakened young woman want? In her wickedly alluring romp through the
late-Georgian London, Italian piano making, and tightly-fitted Polonaise gowns,
Katharine Grant has written a startling and provocative debut.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-8_g-HkpY7GMQcWn31m5Jl_NJR2rXAqxtedQw7yZ7hfA9TiycxUtTzm2rHMdV71WMTRk3IoIyGjZWcMI1SRa_A11xY8o1SwwESzKPnBukD1dcHo0gmGWE7PC0uTwtCTacWo560SiYXQ/s1600/liars%2527+gospel+pb.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-8_g-HkpY7GMQcWn31m5Jl_NJR2rXAqxtedQw7yZ7hfA9TiycxUtTzm2rHMdV71WMTRk3IoIyGjZWcMI1SRa_A11xY8o1SwwESzKPnBukD1dcHo0gmGWE7PC0uTwtCTacWo560SiYXQ/s200/liars%2527+gospel+pb.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Liars’ Gospel by
Naomi Alderman (in PB Apr 8<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A
year after the death of Yehoshuah, a mysterious figure who wandered
Roman-occupied Judea giving sermons and healing the sick, four people tell
their stories. A mother, a friend, a collaborator, a rebel-to each of these
witnesses the young preacher represents strikingly different things. But
whether the witnesses are lying or telling the truth, their accounts will
change all that comes after.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIUg8Jd_cshSaO6119VySwCDuIS7j3KoHRaKRgI7kUDUtxaUaYzGsD4-D-wGxTVtwuORld29DCZ3sAd_nmhrZ5m8hZBKmULi_pDf3a1Ihq_6FKYUgO8GTb7xb7E2vpYWs8JdTTs4S31Q/s1600/leaving+everything+most+loved.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIUg8Jd_cshSaO6119VySwCDuIS7j3KoHRaKRgI7kUDUtxaUaYzGsD4-D-wGxTVtwuORld29DCZ3sAd_nmhrZ5m8hZBKmULi_pDf3a1Ihq_6FKYUgO8GTb7xb7E2vpYWs8JdTTs4S31Q/s200/leaving+everything+most+loved.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Leaving Everything Most Loved: A Maisie
Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear (in PB Apr 8<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The year is 1933. Maisie Dobbs is contacted by an Indian
gentleman who has come to England in the hopes of finding out who killed his
sister two months ago. Scotland Yard failed to make any arrest in the case, and
there is reason to believe they failed to conduct a thorough investigation. The
case becomes even more challenging when another Indian woman is murdered just
hours before a scheduled interview. Meanwhile, unfinished business from a
previous case becomes a distraction, as does a new development in Maisie's
personal life.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">The Venetian Bargain by Marina Fiorato (Apr
8<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In 1576, five years after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire
at the Battle of Lepanto, a ship slips unnoticed into Venice bearing a deadly
cargo. A man, more dead than alive, disembarks and staggers towards the Piazza
San Marco. He brings a gift to Venice from the Turkish Sultan. Within days the
city will be infected with bubonic plague - and the Turks will have their
revenge. For months the plague wreaks havoc on Venice. In despair, the Doge
summons the architect Andrea Palladio and offers him a commission: the greatest
church of his career, an offering to God so magnificent that Venice will be
saved. Palladio's own life is in danger too, and it will require all the skills
of Dr Annibale Cason, the city's finest plague doctor, to keep him alive. But
what Dr Cason has not counted on is the other passenger who disembarked from
the Turkish ship - a young and beautiful harem doctor whose skills will more
than match his own.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEqLAI6TneCG1FZOXotoC-oNeP-gIBU6GR8HrAoSxTEnxFbFGUvVE2Pzz7gfKB0ug7VKIin9NFKNHjdSCz4jaHjfmCkG_62rJjozq5fK_eT-YAIZM_3qHVC3vQhN8U98EXvMDscgBPwh4/s1600/mimi.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEqLAI6TneCG1FZOXotoC-oNeP-gIBU6GR8HrAoSxTEnxFbFGUvVE2Pzz7gfKB0ug7VKIin9NFKNHjdSCz4jaHjfmCkG_62rJjozq5fK_eT-YAIZM_3qHVC3vQhN8U98EXvMDscgBPwh4/s200/mimi.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Mimi Malloy at Last by Julia MacDonnell (Apr
8<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Forced into an early retirement at the age of
sixty-something, Mimi Malloy enjoys the simple things in life: True Blue
cigarettes, her apartment in the heart of Quincy, and an evening with Frank
Sinatra on the stereo and a Manhattan in her hand. Born into an Irish Catholic
brood of seven, with six daughters of her own, she knows that life isn't just a
bowl of cherries--that, sometimes, it's the pits. And when an MRI reveals that
Mimi's brain is filled with black spots--areas of atrophy, her doctor says--the
prospect living out her days in an "Old Timer's facility" starts to
look like more than just an idea at the top of her eldest daughter's to-do
list. Yet as Mimi prepares to take a stand, she stumbles upon an old pendant,
and her memory starts to return--specifically, memories of a shockingly painful
childhood, her long-lost sister Fagan, and the wicked stepmother she swore to
forget. By turns funny, wise, and whimsical, and always deeply moving, Mimi
Malloy At Last is an unforgettable story of second chances and the family bonds
that break us and remake us. Above all, it's a poignant reminder that it's
never too late for love--and that one can always come of age a second time.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinxCURHKWGRQ5q6W1aipojd7i1WExZJLwJnlQH1YZaLH68B0vy8EzJu5xGqvgVo2OdxBEjrAQ-32NykgytQbPsvl7mNiuk49GIVDl1LPVhygjCpcQko42aRzjcKs_WLyK-YdxNqbZbjRY/s1600/cover+not+available.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinxCURHKWGRQ5q6W1aipojd7i1WExZJLwJnlQH1YZaLH68B0vy8EzJu5xGqvgVo2OdxBEjrAQ-32NykgytQbPsvl7mNiuk49GIVDl1LPVhygjCpcQko42aRzjcKs_WLyK-YdxNqbZbjRY/s200/cover+not+available.png" width="132" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">The Morning River by W. Michael Gear
(re-release Apr 8<sup>th</sup>)</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">1825: Disgusted that his son Richard, a timid and frail
philosophy student at Harvard, knows nothing of practical value, Philip
Hamilton challenges Richard to put his philosophy to the ultimate test--the
Western frontier. If Richard can deliver $30,000 in bank notes to a business
associate in St. Louis and return with a signed contract, then, and only then,
will he be able to continue his studies at Harvard.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM8WhwG3_plm8ZfRDLPq7ixxG1WTs0fFQoP6sjYfMz67SOd8Ih9dDMmD025ET0HfxlP-kvNJY_tlmzKt-eQ1MEMGJsdZL5-lalHF0OzDgAc6pgJv-_HRZt3P6NlkGMyvL9sdNTKQYnPuE/s1600/shadow+queen.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM8WhwG3_plm8ZfRDLPq7ixxG1WTs0fFQoP6sjYfMz67SOd8Ih9dDMmD025ET0HfxlP-kvNJY_tlmzKt-eQ1MEMGJsdZL5-lalHF0OzDgAc6pgJv-_HRZt3P6NlkGMyvL9sdNTKQYnPuE/s200/shadow+queen.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The
Shadow Queen by Sandra Gulland (Apr 8<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1660, Paris: Claudette's life is
like an ever-revolving stage set. From an impoverished childhood
wandering the French countryside with her family's acting troupe, Claudette
finally witnesses her mother's astonishing rise to stardom in Parisian
theaters. Claudette finds working with playwrights Corneille, Molière and
Racine to be deeply rewarding, but like all in the theatrical world, she's
socially scorned. A series of chance encounters pull Claudette into the
alluring orbit of Athénaïs de Montespan, mistress to Louis XIV and reigning
"Shadow Queen." Needing someone to safeguard her secrets, Athénaïs
offers to hire Claudette as her personal attendant. Enticed by the promise
of riches and respectability, Claudette leaves the world of the theater only to
find that court is very much like a stage--with outward shows of loyalty
masking more devious intentions. This parallel is not lost on Athénaïs, who
fears political enemies are plotting her ruin as young courtesans angle to take
the coveted spot in the king's bed. Indeed, Claudette's
"reputable" new position is marked by spying, illicit trysts and
titanic power struggles. As Athénaïs begins to lose her grip on the Sun King,
her use of the magical arts take a dark turn, and Claudette is forced to
consider a move that will put her own life at risk. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggsfTlZnCNDINy4NvYtKBWIy9uXJYkaERCxTkB2wsaeeGKyfE176v6I6w21jKF2Z3XXuDGNr3s7ObVihNGRoNmdxqnn2pQO4z1LfAhIAZkSVUP04vjhtx5kPJc1QnxAPhwV67StGmBuq8/s1600/collector+of+dying+breaths.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggsfTlZnCNDINy4NvYtKBWIy9uXJYkaERCxTkB2wsaeeGKyfE176v6I6w21jKF2Z3XXuDGNr3s7ObVihNGRoNmdxqnn2pQO4z1LfAhIAZkSVUP04vjhtx5kPJc1QnxAPhwV67StGmBuq8/s200/collector+of+dying+breaths.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Collector of Dying Breaths by M.J. Rose (Apr 8<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In 1533, an Italian orphan with an uncanny
knack for creating fragrance is plucked from poverty to become Catherine de
Medici’s perfumer. To repay his debt, over the years René le Florentine is
occasionally called upon to put his vast knowledge to a darker purpose: the
creation of deadly poisons used to dispatch the Queen's rivals. But it's René's
other passion—a desire to reanimate a human breath, to bring back the lives of
the two people whose deaths have devastated him—that incites a dangerous
treasure hunt five centuries later. That's when Jac L’Etoile—suffering from a heartache
of her own—becomes obsessed with the possibility of unlocking Rene's secret to
immortality. Soon Jac’s search reconnects her with Griffin North, a man she’s
loved her entire life. Together they confront an eccentric heiress whose art
collection rivals many museums and who is determined to keep her treasures
close at hand, not just in this life but in her next.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPxJZ60gEP4VL9_7nblBN0zCzmqWQQyp-anNlD7iDCtXyvsQiyV0_3LIMBQCw-IcKqooUkc6zZ9ikZ2Poo_fnp82JkKomCHyPTV_k96xQAX-oqF3iiqnnZM1P8hIFZucDXn-GL3o2_M5c/s1600/in+libertys+name.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPxJZ60gEP4VL9_7nblBN0zCzmqWQQyp-anNlD7iDCtXyvsQiyV0_3LIMBQCw-IcKqooUkc6zZ9ikZ2Poo_fnp82JkKomCHyPTV_k96xQAX-oqF3iiqnnZM1P8hIFZucDXn-GL3o2_M5c/s200/in+libertys+name.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>In Liberty’s Name by Eva
Augustin Rumpf (Apr 9<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Paris, 1792. When Jean-Louis Auberge narrowly escapes death
in the bloody streets of Paris during the French Revolution, he abandons his
study for the priesthood and seeks a safe haven in the French Caribbean colony
of Saint-Domingue. Young Marie Jeannette Saunier's anticipated adventure on the
island turns to tragedy and loss, as the slaves' quest for freedom erupts in a
terrifying rebellion. The colony is thrust into a war of race and revenge that
ends with the formation of a new nation, Haiti. Inspired by a true story and
sweeping through four countries and two decades, this historical novel is
peopled with figures such as King Louis XVI and Toussaint Louverture, the
former slave known as Haiti's liberator.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3dhuYj40w9kZWRoJKUF0dU6_EszTONcOfDAw7tV_csMNDLwG4pwvX15ELGcw8I8GtzzD4zr3gr7NOBDgOmQsDEI88ELU33_VPWruhscxNDAoIhcFpxgCwKLV_u06a0vsqSI58bEqSsA/s1600/impossible+lives+of+greta+wells+pb.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3dhuYj40w9kZWRoJKUF0dU6_EszTONcOfDAw7tV_csMNDLwG4pwvX15ELGcw8I8GtzzD4zr3gr7NOBDgOmQsDEI88ELU33_VPWruhscxNDAoIhcFpxgCwKLV_u06a0vsqSI58bEqSsA/s200/impossible+lives+of+greta+wells+pb.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Impossible Lives of Greta
Wells by Andrew Sean Greer (in PB Apr 15<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">After the death of her beloved twin brother,
Felix, and the breakup with her longtime lover, Nathan, Greta Wells embarks on
a radical psychiatric treatment to alleviate her suffocating depression. But
the treatment has unexpected effects, and the Greta of 1985 finds herself
transported to remarkably similar lives in different eras—as a bohemian and
adulteress in 1918, and a devoted wife and mother in 1941—fraught with familiar
tensions and difficult choices. Traveling through time, the modern Greta learns that each reality has its own
losses and rewards, and that her alternate selves are unpredictable, driven by
their own desires and needs. And as the final treatment looms, one of these
other selves could change everything.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnw7VzbaJHcwT-KsR35PqfelAttxSIaAqYXxBOV4ZsBZR1o76dqy9CvV_aesL_4VmsbzOsU2D-It8MLWaASCKOucvIAuPoBxOvaa6b6Ja5H0ffw1QfYbcffKSpu_lMaetmPRQKQy6Sszs/s1600/sea+house.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnw7VzbaJHcwT-KsR35PqfelAttxSIaAqYXxBOV4ZsBZR1o76dqy9CvV_aesL_4VmsbzOsU2D-It8MLWaASCKOucvIAuPoBxOvaa6b6Ja5H0ffw1QfYbcffKSpu_lMaetmPRQKQy6Sszs/s200/sea+house.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">The Sea House by Elizabeth Gifford (Apr 15<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Moving to the island of Harris to restore the Sea House,
Ruth finds herself strugging to understand the truth about her past - and at
the same time finds the house holds a shocking secret. She must uncover what
really happened in the Sea House a century earlier if the house is ever to
become the home she longs for.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Ember Island by Kimberley Freeman (Apr 15<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">1891:</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Orphaned as a small child, Tilly Kirkland found a loving, safe home with her
grandfather in Dorset. But nineteenth-century England is an unforgiving place
for a young woman with limited means and as her grandfather's health fails, it
seems perfect timing that she meets Jasper Dellafore. But her new husband is
not all he seems. Alone in the Channel Islands, Tilly finds her dream of a
loving marriage is turning into a nightmare. <b>2012: </b>Bestselling
novelist Nina Jones is struggling with writer's block and her disappointing
personal life. Nothing is quite working. After a storm damages Starwater, her
house on Ember Island, she decides to stay for a while and oversee the repairs:
it’s a perfect excuse to leave her problems behind her on the mainland. Then
Nina discovers diary pages hidden in the walls of the old home. And a mystery
unravels that she is determined to solve.
Though the two women are separated by years, Starwater House will alter the
course of both their lives. Nina will find that secrets never stay buried and
Tilly learns that what matters most is trusting your heart.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhsYJVY7B4ObIQFm4NnvBgiMD88mCQGWh_HLYXs947dE9f28DowVIsAG3cTWSs0n79NPZFkNu1r7V0KvLas9BTpzDONnL14E8008H54rsjJvh7hb3sxlncO_I2WBr0Fs-HtKdSCYZUSs/s1600/angels+make+their+hope+here.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhsYJVY7B4ObIQFm4NnvBgiMD88mCQGWh_HLYXs947dE9f28DowVIsAG3cTWSs0n79NPZFkNu1r7V0KvLas9BTpzDONnL14E8008H54rsjJvh7hb3sxlncO_I2WBr0Fs-HtKdSCYZUSs/s200/angels+make+their+hope+here.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Angels Make Their Hope Here by Breena Clarke (Apr 15<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Russell's Knob is not paradise. But already in
1863 this New Jersey highlands settlement is home to a diverse population of
blacks and whites and reds who have intermarried and lived in relative harmony
for generations. It is a haven for Dossie Bird, who has escaped north along the
Underground Railroad and now feels the embrace of the Smoot family: Duncan (so
much older than Dossie; could he expect her to be his helpmeet?), his reticent
sister, his exuberant nephews, and a circle of friends that includes the local
spirit woman, Noelle. Tentatively, Dossie begins to lay down roots-until an act
of violence propels her away from Russell's Knob and eventually into the mayhem
of New York City's mean streets.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypUfo_Cn5eyF_XBywPQs6huUw6e9yb9U_WlaP_ow6z4yDbOzU6JvNQeZkdAoj8Fn0MKjTTLQ8wYW4T_NpzxUtSVhtHaKvTYAuiYNCUY67jC1qWCwDRpxjDajZ9cMw8cROAXaPB9FalU8/s1600/til+the+well+runs+dry.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypUfo_Cn5eyF_XBywPQs6huUw6e9yb9U_WlaP_ow6z4yDbOzU6JvNQeZkdAoj8Fn0MKjTTLQ8wYW4T_NpzxUtSVhtHaKvTYAuiYNCUY67jC1qWCwDRpxjDajZ9cMw8cROAXaPB9FalU8/s200/til+the+well+runs+dry.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">‘Til the Well Runs Dry by Lauren
Francis-Sharma (Apr 15<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Lauren Francis-Sharma's <i>'Til the Well Runs
Dry</i> opens in a seaside village in the north of Trinidad where young Marcia
Garcia, a gifted and smart-mouthed 16-year-old seamstress, lives alone, raising
two small boys and guarding a family secret. When she meets Farouk Karam, an
ambitious young policemen (so taken with Marcia that he elicits the help of a
tea-brewing obeah woman to guarantee her ardor), the risks and rewards in
Marcia’s life amplify forever. On an island rich with laughter, Calypso,
Carnival, cricket, beaches and salty air, sweet fruits and spicy stews, the
novel follows Marcia and Farouk from their amusing and passionate courtship
through personal and historical events that threaten Marcia’s secret, entangle
the couple and their children in a scandal, and endanger the future for all of
them.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvKjSEvQVtmbd-rU8sCaE8J0jK-f5AzcGzI4zO_9fqEXgfo88rBS0-Rnd1VM7lOqcYb-ZzeV5e3DRLl-TFLiYBnb865ma9nbbtjyevRjHfdD-nWg42_sKHWktpXgHQlfqIAumMCWvUhY8/s1600/cover+not+available.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvKjSEvQVtmbd-rU8sCaE8J0jK-f5AzcGzI4zO_9fqEXgfo88rBS0-Rnd1VM7lOqcYb-ZzeV5e3DRLl-TFLiYBnb865ma9nbbtjyevRjHfdD-nWg42_sKHWktpXgHQlfqIAumMCWvUhY8/s1600/cover+not+available.png" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Lovers at the Chameleon Club,
Paris 1932 by Francine Prose (Apr 22<sup>nd</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Emerging from the austerity and deprivation of
the Great War, Paris in the 1920s shimmers with excitement, dissipation, and
freedom. It is a place of intoxicating ambition, passion, art, and discontent,
where louche jazz venues like the Chameleon Club draw expats, artists,
libertines, and parvenus looking to indulge their true selves. It is at the
Chameleon where the striking Lou Villars, an extraordinary athlete and scandalous
cross-dressing lesbian, finds refuge among the club’s loyal patrons, including
rising Hungarian photographer Gabor Tsenyi, socialite and art patron Baroness
Lily de Rossignol; and caustic American writer Lionel Maine. As the years pass, their fortunes—and the
world itself—evolve. Lou falls desperately in love and finds success as a
racecar driver. Gabor builds his reputation with startlingly vivid and
imaginative photographs, including a haunting portrait of Lou and her lover,
which will resonate through all their lives. As the exuberant 20s give way to
the Depression of the 30s, Lou experiences another metamorphosis—sparked by
tumultuous events—that will warp her earnest desire for love and approval into
something far more sinister: collaboration with the Nazis.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdC9LWrhHueh7AyyCGW8zaTFhTey9_CCCL4yicVrUdDwahAaoxUZmknd-fmebkhY7CGwB_F_DwtrRoL1DtTucOvyGJCkZs1fePiNY5vd7VHPdj20cYEA8M8aZpexSZo5D1MQrQ4IEuA-k/s1600/poisoned+crown.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdC9LWrhHueh7AyyCGW8zaTFhTey9_CCCL4yicVrUdDwahAaoxUZmknd-fmebkhY7CGwB_F_DwtrRoL1DtTucOvyGJCkZs1fePiNY5vd7VHPdj20cYEA8M8aZpexSZo5D1MQrQ4IEuA-k/s200/poisoned+crown.jpg" width="123" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Poisoned Crown by Maurice
Druon (in PB Apr 22<sup>nd</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">No man is impervious to the poisons of the
crown...<br />
Having murdered his wife and exiled his mistress, King Louis X of France
becomes besotted with Princess Clemence of Hungary and makes her his new
Queen. However, though the matter of the
succession should be assured, it is far from so, as Louis embarks on an
ill-fated war against Flanders. Where his father, Philip IV, was strong, Louis
is weak, and the ambitions of his proud, profligate barons threaten his power
and the future of a kingdom once ruled by an Iron King.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5xRvkmet5mP5PhQqfFvSO39F9bR9SastN7n2cICdKP_St1tNxvAJF58tqqhNsx6Zf2s2nUkQW90aVFSaLNJLw9A2VXzTPfTSIelZ9h_WIO4Dj8hrTYY1Tho76E54iCXThw4DWbbQkuBY/s1600/from+the+charred+remains.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5xRvkmet5mP5PhQqfFvSO39F9bR9SastN7n2cICdKP_St1tNxvAJF58tqqhNsx6Zf2s2nUkQW90aVFSaLNJLw9A2VXzTPfTSIelZ9h_WIO4Dj8hrTYY1Tho76E54iCXThw4DWbbQkuBY/s200/from+the+charred+remains.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">From the Charred Remains by Susanna Calkins
(Apr 22<sup>nd</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Weeks after the Great Fire ravaged London, Lucy
Campion—formerly a chambermaid, now a printer’s apprentice—is helping dig
through the ashes of an old tavern, when a body is found stuffed into an old
malt barrel, a knife through his chest. On the corpse is a small leather
bag, promptly pickpocketed by a passing thief, and passed accidentally to
Lucy. Inside the bag, Lucy discovers a strange collection of objects—the
winnings from the last card game ever played at the tavern and a poem. These
are also the only clues to the victim and his murderer. Not realizing that the
poem is in code, Lucy persuades her new employer to publish the poem.
This action leads to a chain of events that once again brings Lucy in direct
confrontation with a murderer.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOw7mnqYNvYF-Wt0UT3EgTNmOv6uJy96_IYjJcWVvbFeWQ69y9fUkoTWx80fPD5ZsRU22ilNXAybfS2hjDQ3YD7b5g7CKVhI1EATCukkwohqdlSGODm1q8eCoeFILxL8tr23r_G1ZfAI/s1600/edge+of+the+earth.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOw7mnqYNvYF-Wt0UT3EgTNmOv6uJy96_IYjJcWVvbFeWQ69y9fUkoTWx80fPD5ZsRU22ilNXAybfS2hjDQ3YD7b5g7CKVhI1EATCukkwohqdlSGODm1q8eCoeFILxL8tr23r_G1ZfAI/s200/edge+of+the+earth.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">The Edge of the Earth by Christina Schwarz
(in PB Apr 22<sup>nd</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In 1898, a woman forsakes the comfort of home and family
for a love that takes her to a remote lighthouse on the wild coast of
California. What she finds at the edge of the earth, hidden between the sea and
the fog, will change her life irrevocably. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trudy, who can argue Kant over dinner and play
a respectable portion of Mozart’s Serenade in G major, has been raised to marry
her childhood friend and assume a life of bourgeois comfort in Milwaukee. She
knows she should be pleased, but she’s restless instead, yearning for something
she lacks even the vocabulary to articulate. When she falls in love with
enigmatic and ambitious Oskar, she believes she’s found her escape from the
banality of her preordained life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
escape turns out to be more fraught than Trudy had imagined. Alienated from
family and friends, the couple moves across the country to take a job at a
lighthouse at Point Lucia, California—an unnervingly isolated outcropping,
trapped between the ocean and hundreds of miles of inaccessible wilderness.
There they meet the light station’s only inhabitants—the formidable and guarded
Crawleys. In this unfamiliar place, Trudy will find that nothing is as she
might have predicted, especially after she discovers what hides among the
rocks. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2r0K2UjlfChICa5FMdLMPYsgLRG2QzWAxSbqhukdLg9y289M6lmkQdTB7O633NQjINjb94XzCngvuUd17u00hxYwMtVONzS9eoZeJs0QQBopCQWpSAZzNeIx7IJ7ql9PED9MTVBF4RSg/s1600/light+in+the+ruins+pb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2r0K2UjlfChICa5FMdLMPYsgLRG2QzWAxSbqhukdLg9y289M6lmkQdTB7O633NQjINjb94XzCngvuUd17u00hxYwMtVONzS9eoZeJs0QQBopCQWpSAZzNeIx7IJ7ql9PED9MTVBF4RSg/s200/light+in+the+ruins+pb.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The
Light in the Ruins by Chris Bojahlian (in PB Apr 29<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>1943:</b> Tucked away in the idyllic hills south of Florence, the
Rosatis, an Italian family of noble lineage, believe that the walls of their
ancient villa will keep them safe from the war raging across Europe.
Eighteen-year-old Cristina spends her days swimming in the pool, playing with
her young niece and nephew, and wandering aimlessly amid the estate’s gardens
and olive groves. But when two soldiers, a German and an Italian, arrive at the
villa asking to see an ancient Etruscan burial site, the Rosatis’ bucolic
tranquility is shattered. A young German lieutenant begins to court Cristina,
the Nazis descend upon the estate demanding hospitality, and what was once
their sanctuary becomes their prison.
<b>1955:</b> Serafina Bettini, an
investigator with the Florence police department, has her own demons. A
beautiful woman, Serafina carefully hides her scars along with her haunting
memories of the war. But when she is assigned to a gruesome new case—a serial
killer targeting the Rosatis, murdering the remnants of the family one-by-one
in cold blood—Serafina finds herself digging into a past that involves both the
victims and her own tragic history.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTQsSsBki-XBg2wDdiECBPlfUwH4GVUJjIHZJtmZqRWzjJUcUKPnobtzRLPok-rbS_iHmlzTXIUh2MmslKFoOmZwJvsrkOsradY9opTkqrPFwa4Eaw27CZ4lBSjmSa9Gj2UwEZVHrFU4/s1600/stolen+remains.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTQsSsBki-XBg2wDdiECBPlfUwH4GVUJjIHZJtmZqRWzjJUcUKPnobtzRLPok-rbS_iHmlzTXIUh2MmslKFoOmZwJvsrkOsradY9opTkqrPFwa4Eaw27CZ4lBSjmSa9Gj2UwEZVHrFU4/s200/stolen+remains.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Stolen Remains by
Christine Trent (Apr 29<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">After
establishing her reputation as one of London's most highly regarded
undertakers, Violet Harper decided to take her practice to the wilds of the
American West. But when her mother falls ill, Violet and her husband Samuel are
summoned back to England, where her skills are as sought-after as ever. She's
honored to undertake the funeral of Anthony Fairmont, the Viscount Raybourn, a
close friend of Queen Victoria's who died in suspicious circumstances--but it's
difficult to perform her services when his body disappears. . . As the viscount's undertaker, all eyes are on
Violet as the Fairmonts and Scotland Yard begin the search for his earthly
remains. Forced to exhume her latent talents as a sleuth to preserve her good
name, Violet's own investigation takes her from servants' quarters, to the
halls of Windsor Castle, to the tombs of ancient Egypt--and the Fairmont
family's secrets quickly begin to unravel like a mummy's wrappings. But the
closer Violet gets to the truth, the closer she gets to becoming the next
missing body. . .</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizreVfVnLibKrcNh72YJGu0cs90gm7rRLZX6yQq4qE2v4Szp1Z5bzWIafjuBxtNtzEueRq1rNLS-dXZzmMtasVNuMfKOD_xMrJUPzUcOane4TenBn-R5bPcbI4yxTC6hALChBJGlgszIc/s1600/ruby.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizreVfVnLibKrcNh72YJGu0cs90gm7rRLZX6yQq4qE2v4Szp1Z5bzWIafjuBxtNtzEueRq1rNLS-dXZzmMtasVNuMfKOD_xMrJUPzUcOane4TenBn-R5bPcbI4yxTC6hALChBJGlgszIc/s200/ruby.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ruby by Cynthia Bond (Apr 29<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ephram Jennings has never forgotten the
beautiful girl with the long braids running through the piney woods of Liberty,
their small East Texas town. Young Ruby, "the kind of pretty it hurt to
look at," has suffered beyond imagining, so as soon as she can, she flees
suffocating Liberty for the bright pull of 1950s New York. Ruby quickly winds
her way into the ripe center of the city--the darkened piano bars and hidden
alleyways of the Village--all the while hoping to see the red hair and green
eyes of her mother. When the funeral of her childhood best friend forces her to
return home, thirty-year-old Ruby Bell will find herself reliving the
devastating violence of her girlhood. With the terrifying realization that she
might not be strong enough to fight her way back out, Ruby struggles to survive
her memories of the town's dark past. Meanwhile, Ephram must choose between
loyalty to the sister who raised him and the chance for a life with the woman
he has loved since he was a boy. Full of life, exquisitely written, and
suffused with the pastoral beauty of the rural South, Ruby carries the reader
along in a rush: through the red dust and gossip of Main Street, to the pit
fire where men swill bootleg outside Bloom's Juke, to Celia Jennings's kitchen
where a cake is being made, yolk by yolk, that Ephram will use to try to begin
again with Ruby.</span></span></div>
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-74913663651193276332013-11-23T10:00:00.000-05:002013-11-23T10:00:00.029-05:00March Historical Fiction Preview<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KK6EggB6wYpIxN5ispuWwxNlZps6dPjN7USDQgzEw3ZShZh8MjHlP0ZBXsy0ckPRnZEw3DioQZx0GVnRS-hBkL0eDQeVtxMTvrp6ierhlSDfHtuMHId23BXcZHE2_LuMvexpzxr_Fis/s200/king's+ransom.jpg" width="131" /></b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>A King’s Ransom by Sharon Kay Penman (Mar 4<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This long-anticipated sequel to the national bestseller <i>Lionheart</i>is
a vivid and heart-wrenching story of the last event-filled years in the
life of Richard, Coeur de Lion. Taken captive by the Holy Roman Emperor
while en route home—in violation of the papal decree protecting all
crusaders—he was to spend fifteen months chained in a dungeon while
Eleanor of Aquitaine moved heaven and earth to raise the exorbitant
ransom. But a further humiliation awaited him: he was forced to kneel
and swear fealty to his bitter enemy. For the five years remaining to
him, betrayals, intrigues, wars, and illness were ever present. So were
his infidelities, perhaps a pattern set by his father’s faithlessness to
Eleanor. But the courage, compassion, and intelligence of this warrior
king became the stuff of legend, and <i>A King’s Ransom </i>brings the man and his world fully and powerfully alive.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmNPLkpNhQLYJmbQOdUPQT-eIk3QUUqau38xt2YXkdtHiPt9ozu39GR6-EX0mqsETGUlCZT7qbUH2zefnIlcCOohHv0kWw4IHeE780gIBarlH4jjFTvw300kriWBORxCeGG0PwwS1JDc/s1600/mapmakers+daughter.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmNPLkpNhQLYJmbQOdUPQT-eIk3QUUqau38xt2YXkdtHiPt9ozu39GR6-EX0mqsETGUlCZT7qbUH2zefnIlcCOohHv0kWw4IHeE780gIBarlH4jjFTvw300kriWBORxCeGG0PwwS1JDc/s200/mapmakers+daughter.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Mapmaker’s Daughter by Laurel Corona (Mar 4th)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Valencia, 1492. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issue an order
expelling all Jews who refuse to convert to Christianity. Amalia Cresques,
daughter of a Jewish mapmaker whose services were so valuable that his faith had
been ignored, can no longer evade the throne. She must leave her beloved atlas,
her house, her country, forever. As Amalia remembers her past, living as a converso,
hiding her faith, she must decide whether to risk the wrath of the Inquisition
or relinquish what’s left of her true life. A mesmerizing saga about faith,
family and Jewish identity.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje1MgRH7YCp_f6-sm05vJqRnBqhzeKpVbJbGMADkQbtuVyoN_PohGy84QXLfJFaq3kt3iphwnJtox5wC2xVLihXw6HxFTiikItoRA0xIvx2q5WiCK628eeV1g87P3pbhAjB322Ngvxqeo/s300/fallen+beauty.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje1MgRH7YCp_f6-sm05vJqRnBqhzeKpVbJbGMADkQbtuVyoN_PohGy84QXLfJFaq3kt3iphwnJtox5wC2xVLihXw6HxFTiikItoRA0xIvx2q5WiCK628eeV1g87P3pbhAjB322Ngvxqeo/s200/fallen+beauty.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Fallen Beauty by Erika Robuck (Mar 4<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Upstate New York, 1928. Laura Kelley and the man she loves
sneak away from their judgmental town to attend a performance of the scandalous
Ziegfeld Follies. But the dark consequences of their night of daring and
delight reach far into the future. That same evening, Bohemian poet Edna St.
Vincent Millay and her indulgent husband hold a wild party in their remote
mountain estate, hoping to inspire her muse. Millay declares her wish for a new
lover who will take her to unparalleled heights of passion and poetry, but for
the first time, the man who responds will not bend completely to her will. Two
years later, Laura, an unwed seamstress struggling to support her daughter, and
Millay, a woman fighting the passage of time, work together secretly to create
costumes for Millay’s next grand tour. As their complex, often uneasy
friendship develops amid growing local condemnation, each woman is forced to
confront what it means to be a fallen woman and to decide for herself what
price she is willing to pay to live a full life.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmjfeaR3o-dFE56JXxvZYos1iaCA9h5x2InC0ODCnoNBD7w4TaKiEud4O6TKDdW2ac03D-1OTIsIDte7pfJAMe3KjbQQIi8vqmWphm5waOA205QcGMq7rk32mirrKRwfDBwdF9GgRFd8/s300/rebel+pirate.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmjfeaR3o-dFE56JXxvZYos1iaCA9h5x2InC0ODCnoNBD7w4TaKiEud4O6TKDdW2ac03D-1OTIsIDte7pfJAMe3KjbQQIi8vqmWphm5waOA205QcGMq7rk32mirrKRwfDBwdF9GgRFd8/s200/rebel+pirate.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">The Rebel Pirate by Donna Thorland (Mar 4<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">1775, Boston Harbor. James Sparhawk, Master and Commander
in the British Navy, knows trouble when he sees it. The ship he’s boarded is
carrying ammunition and gold into a country on the knife’s edge of war.
Sparhawk’s duty is clear: confiscate the cargo, impound the vessel and seize
the crew. But when one of the ship’s boys turns out to be a lovely girl, with a
loaded pistol and dead-shot aim, Sparhawk finds himself held hostage aboard a
Rebel privateer. Sarah Ward never set
out to break the law. Before Boston became a powder keg, she was poised to
escape the stigma of being a notorious pirate’s daughter by wedding Micah Wild,
one of Salem’s most successful merchants. Then a Patriot mob destroyed her
fortune and Wild played her false by marrying her best friend and smuggling a
chest of Rebel gold aboard her family’s ship.
Now branded a pirate herself, Sarah will do what she must to secure her
family’s safety and her own future. Even if that means taking part in the cat
and mouse game unfolding in Boston Harbor, the desperate naval fight between
British and Rebel forces for the materiel of war—and pitting herself against
James Sparhawk, the one man she cannot resist.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6ONkMV93Sa66lVqGQ8_iYrh8fPLKlb6M0lCoFCIvGga_6xsQiIjs5MnIf4ptO9KXQkpsWHx6CIgY_avjiu6hNUIWCXl68a-dghzyP892fxJ142blQgRbGoLcL7bw8iHQcpeDURnBWG8/s1600/place+at+the+table+pb.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6ONkMV93Sa66lVqGQ8_iYrh8fPLKlb6M0lCoFCIvGga_6xsQiIjs5MnIf4ptO9KXQkpsWHx6CIgY_avjiu6hNUIWCXl68a-dghzyP892fxJ142blQgRbGoLcL7bw8iHQcpeDURnBWG8/s200/place+at+the+table+pb.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>A
Place at the Table by Susan Rebecca White (in PB Mar 4<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Celebrating the healing power of
food and the magic of New York City, A Place at the Table follows the lives of
three seekers who come together in the understanding that when you embrace the
thing that makes you different, you become whole. A Place at the Table tells
the story of three unforgettable characters whose paths converge in a storied
Manhattan café: Bobby, a young gay man from Georgia who has been ostracized by
his family; Amelia, a wealthy Connecticut woman whose life is upended when a
family secret comes to light; and Alice, an African-American chef from North
Carolina whose heritage is the basis of a renowned cookbook but whose past is a
mystery to those who know her. These characters are exiles—from homeland, from
marriage, from family. While they all find companionship and careers through
cooking, they hunger for the deeper nourishment of communion. As the narrative
sweeps from a freed-slave settlement in 1920s North Carolina to Manhattan
during the deadly AIDS epidemic of the 1980s to the well-heeled hamlet of
contemporary Old Greenwich, Connecticut, Bobby, Amelia, and Alice are asked to
sacrifice everything they ever knew or cared about to find authenticity and
fulfillment.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKKjXXcCCftS39k_BLx2-wWpH-r71b0iahP7Iq19CL0Y-JpEEXl0J11hffmplRdT0Sf3NVUcpkFlOYxV6YBlaAJUdydZOyXIJ3W0FzmkUdgDUxViqtCpMBZDKToBdibjLIG_XmakzTRQ/s1600/z.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKKjXXcCCftS39k_BLx2-wWpH-r71b0iahP7Iq19CL0Y-JpEEXl0J11hffmplRdT0Sf3NVUcpkFlOYxV6YBlaAJUdydZOyXIJ3W0FzmkUdgDUxViqtCpMBZDKToBdibjLIG_XmakzTRQ/s200/z.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
by Therese Anne Fowler (in PB Mar 4<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">When beautiful, reckless Southern belle Zelda Sayre meets F.
Scott Fitzgerald at a country club dance in 1918, she is seventeen years old
and he is a young army lieutenant stationed in Alabama. Before long, the
“ungettable” Zelda has fallen for him despite his unsuitability: Scott isn’t
wealthy or prominent or even a Southerner, and keeps insisting, absurdly, that
his writing will bring him both fortune and fame. Her father is deeply
unimpressed. But after Scott sells his first novel, <i>This Side of Paradise,</i>
to Scribner’s, Zelda optimistically boards a train north, to marry him in the
vestry of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and take the rest as it comes. What comes,
here at the dawn of the Jazz Age, is unimagined attention and success and
celebrity that will make Scott and Zelda legends in their own time. Everyone
wants to meet the dashing young author of the scandalous novel—and his witty,
perhaps even more scandalous wife. Zelda bobs her hair, adopts daring new
fashions, and revels in this wild new world. Each place they go becomes a
playground: New York City, Long Island, Hollywood, Paris, and the French
Riviera—where they join the endless party of the glamorous, sometimes doomed
Lost Generation that includes Ernest Hemingway, Sara and Gerald Murphy, and
Gertrude Stein. Everything seems new and possible. Troubles, at first, seem to
fade like morning mist. But not even Jay Gatsby’s parties go on forever. Who <i>is</i>
Zelda, other than the wife of a famous—sometimes infamous—husband? How can she
forge her own identity while fighting her demons and Scott’s, too? </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIlPshkJOhlD-FiNH9ug8eFwzYFvyWWo52KLZ98Gwubt48i6QULeQJ0hWsL0y2qrK2vbIKxGoBHtf0EVR3SMDtODS-yZno9CpYKStYNmAYMzTmcozdxsAJDU1WorK7AX6CO5WyW2R7Ak/s1600/city+of+darkness+and+light.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIlPshkJOhlD-FiNH9ug8eFwzYFvyWWo52KLZ98Gwubt48i6QULeQJ0hWsL0y2qrK2vbIKxGoBHtf0EVR3SMDtODS-yZno9CpYKStYNmAYMzTmcozdxsAJDU1WorK7AX6CO5WyW2R7Ak/s200/city+of+darkness+and+light.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>City
of Darkness and Light by Rhys Bowen (Mar 4<sup>th</sup>)</b></span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Molly and Daniel Sullivan are
settling happily into the new routines of parenthood, but their domestic bliss
is shattered when a gang retaliates against Daniel after he makes a big arrest.
Daniel wants his family safely out of New York as soon as possible. Knowing she
needs to protect their young son Liam, Molly agrees to take him on the long
journey to Paris to stay with her friends Sid and Gus, who are studying art in
the City of Light. But upon arriving in Paris, nothing goes as planned. Sid and
Gus are nowhere to be found, and Molly's search for them leads
her to the doorstep of a renowned Impressionist artist, whom
she's horrified to learn has just been murdered. The longer
Molly goes without finding her friends, and the more she learns
about the painter's death, the more she starts to wonder if she and
Liam might be in even more danger in Paris than they were at home. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OrFSsKMX7TD3vTCX6YPC_EOe5atIoBsesxQEU432pj3_M2yJaswu9OF9x4RGGiOpe-cO3JNlnT6geZu41IKIZ9Rpfw27yAUfP8ZxDQHvRmH5MwU05lwLb7bdGCQGdPk_o64JdFCCGPw/s1600/why+kings+confess.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OrFSsKMX7TD3vTCX6YPC_EOe5atIoBsesxQEU432pj3_M2yJaswu9OF9x4RGGiOpe-cO3JNlnT6geZu41IKIZ9Rpfw27yAUfP8ZxDQHvRmH5MwU05lwLb7bdGCQGdPk_o64JdFCCGPw/s200/why+kings+confess.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Why Kings Confess: a
Sebastian St Cyr Mystery by C.S. Harris (Mar 4<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Regency
England, January 1813: When a badly injured Frenchwoman is found beside the
mutilated body of Dr. Damion Pelletan in one of London’s worst slums, Sebastian
finds himself caught in a high-stakes tangle of murder and revenge. Although
the woman, Alexi Sauvage, has no memory of the attack, Sebastian knows her all
too well from an incident in his past—an act of wartime brutality and betrayal
that nearly destroyed him. As the search for the killer leads Sebastian into a
treacherous web of duplicity, he discovers that Pelletan was part of a secret
delegation sent by Napoleon to investigate the possibility of peace with
Britain. Despite his powerful father-in-law’s warnings, Sebastian plunges deep
into the mystery of the “Lost Dauphin,” the boy prince who disappeared in the
darkest days of the French Revolution, and soon finds himself at lethal odds
with the Dauphin’s sister—the imperious, ruthless daughter of Marie
Antoinette—who is determined to retake the French crown at any cost. With the
murderer striking ever closer, Sebastian must battle new fears about Hero’s
health and that of their soon-to-be born child. When he realizes the key to
their survival may lie in the hands of an old enemy, he must finally face the
truth about his own guilt in a past he has found too terrible to
consider.... </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYm_bC2KzVhuMrxusMxQht0c2liyFkacaB8fTl9n1hTza1itGDzRE53ixEs_SoIRot9Hm4IbqR-d6iLkE80DkSEQ5gxYQr2sPeL4KYlvF1LMthsTrdy1DTaM-BP1QctcVsLKucKPPDlU/s1600/missing+italian+girl.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYm_bC2KzVhuMrxusMxQht0c2liyFkacaB8fTl9n1hTza1itGDzRE53ixEs_SoIRot9Hm4IbqR-d6iLkE80DkSEQ5gxYQr2sPeL4KYlvF1LMthsTrdy1DTaM-BP1QctcVsLKucKPPDlU/s200/missing+italian+girl.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Missing Italian Girl by
Barbara Corrado Pope (in PB Mar 6<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">On a sultry night in June 1897, Pyotr Ivanovich Balenov, a
young Russian, and two young women transport a dead man through the narrow
streets of a working class neighborhood in Paris. They throw the body into the
canal and the girls flee to the Latin Quarter to hide with one of Pyotr’s
anarchist “comrades.” They do not realize that they, too, are being watched. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their subsequent disappearance and the violent
acts that follow will set Clarie Martin, a teacher and mother of a toddler, and
her husband, magistrate Bernard Martin (last seen in <i>Cezanne's
Quarry </i>and<i> The Blood of Lorraine</i>) on a dangerous quest to
rescue them from a vicious killer in fin-de-siecle Paris.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1tpKJqcZoHor070ymMtAxTdw6iLj2iroS_NwwaHnDfIE2ws2cZh29xLZeYYfp_vMja2TWdas86H63elRmDK3uf1y5rNb5NMjL4KH3rAhNhb3xivHvyNVQFtJXjhznKOAOUPQ6bTxK84/s1600/savage+girl.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1tpKJqcZoHor070ymMtAxTdw6iLj2iroS_NwwaHnDfIE2ws2cZh29xLZeYYfp_vMja2TWdas86H63elRmDK3uf1y5rNb5NMjL4KH3rAhNhb3xivHvyNVQFtJXjhznKOAOUPQ6bTxK84/s200/savage+girl.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Savage Girl by Jean Zimmerman (Mar 6<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Jean Zimmerman’s new novel tells of the dramatic events
that transpire when an alluring, blazingly smart eighteen-year-old girl named
Bronwyn, reputedly raised by wolves in the wilds of Nevada, is adopted in 1875
by the Delegates, an outlandishly wealthy Manhattan couple, and taken back East
to be civilized and introduced into high society. Bronwyn hits the highly mannered world of
Edith Wharton era Manhattan like a bomb. A series of suitors, both young and
old, find her irresistible, but the willful girl’s illicit lovers begin to turn
up murdered. Zimmerman’s tale is
narrated by the Delegate’s son, a Harvard anatomy student. The tormented, self-dramatizing
Hugo Delegate speaks from a prison cell where he is prepared to take the fall
for his beloved Savage Girl. This narrative—a love story and a mystery with a
powerful sense of fable—is his confession.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4pWdW0IHyyOogyCdBCvwE4ceA6AeL73W4bYrzIehf0YplUrxLG5KgqTPV51SrQnsPfOjfK5DyVr8ywu0dFMTwY4y1anKsw0GI3skAEju-ImP_qj1aOJAuzdXYqsUlQ8EkbZehqUiT0S4/s1600/winthrop+woman.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4pWdW0IHyyOogyCdBCvwE4ceA6AeL73W4bYrzIehf0YplUrxLG5KgqTPV51SrQnsPfOjfK5DyVr8ywu0dFMTwY4y1anKsw0GI3skAEju-ImP_qj1aOJAuzdXYqsUlQ8EkbZehqUiT0S4/s200/winthrop+woman.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The
Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton (re-issue Mar 6th)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In 1631 Elizabeth Winthrop, newly
widowed with an infant daughter, set sail for the New World. In those days of
hardship, famine, and Indian attack, there was only one way, in the minds of
the governors of the Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut colonies, to hold
together the sanity and identity of the colonists. That was through a strong
and bigoted, theocratic government. It
is against this background of rigidity and conformity that Bess Winthrop dared
to befriend Anne Hutchinson at the moment of her banishment from the Bay Colony;
dared to challenge a determined army captain bent on the massacre of her
friends the Siwanoy Indians; and, above all, dared to love a man as her heart
and her whole being commanded. And so, as a response to this almost unmatched
courage and vitality, Governor John Winthrop came to refer to this woman in the
historical records of the time as his "unregenerate niece." Anya
Seton’s riveting historical novel portrays the fortitude, humiliation, and
ultimate triumph of the Winthrop woman, who believed in a concept of happiness
transcending that of her own day.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6CfHnUXOjvLxupK-eGHmbpJQHwlUoQdDB3XoDCuiuUKBPCo1jqvZFJS3fbluKAeyf3ZqYemUbcfYXOfr4g_PEGZf2F-hyA3uQfzSeFA1j02OwtJ52I1W4YzvPFsDlYUtOW2HlC220-0/s1600/lie.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6CfHnUXOjvLxupK-eGHmbpJQHwlUoQdDB3XoDCuiuUKBPCo1jqvZFJS3fbluKAeyf3ZqYemUbcfYXOfr4g_PEGZf2F-hyA3uQfzSeFA1j02OwtJ52I1W4YzvPFsDlYUtOW2HlC220-0/s200/lie.jpg" width="132" /></a><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Lie by Helen Dunmore
(Mar 10<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Cornwall,
1920. Infantry officer Daniel Branwell has returned to his coastal hometown
after the war. Unmoored and alone, Daniel spends his days in solitude, quietly
working the land. However, all is not as it seems in the peaceful idylls of the
countryside; and although he has left the trenches, Daniel cannot escape his
dreadful past. As former friendships re-ignite, Daniel is drawn deeper and
deeper into the tangled traumas of his youth and the memories of his best
friend and his first love. Old wounds reopen, and old troubles resurface,
though none so great as the lie that threatens to ruin Daniel's life, the lie
from which he cannot run.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">The Lost Sisterhood by Anne Fortier (Mar 11<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Lost Sisterhood</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;">
tells the story of Diana, a young and aspiring—but somewhat aimless—professor
at Oxford. Her fascination with the history of the Amazons, the legendary warrior
women of ancient Greece, is deeply connected with her own family’s history; her
grandmother in particular. When Diana is invited to consult on an archeological
excavation, she quickly realizes that here, finally, may be the proof that the
Amazons were real. The Amazons’ “true”
story—and Diana’s history—is threaded along with this modern day hunt. This
historical back-story focuses on a group of women, and more specifically on two
sisters, whose fight to survive takes us through ancient Athens and to Troy,
where the novel reinvents our perspective on the famous Trojan War.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXEQeSCZnzDvq5go4GES0tm-do8tRYtaFvaBmoawpviNFFhdp5Wi5TUQrbi-bWK8a3BYNQNGX56aluqfbgs5FVyKnSz1P6HTJdlRi_VJnRXZ0jgNnMn3jmop1u5IoolSN_NupnjWkBxvY/s1600/veil+of+time.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXEQeSCZnzDvq5go4GES0tm-do8tRYtaFvaBmoawpviNFFhdp5Wi5TUQrbi-bWK8a3BYNQNGX56aluqfbgs5FVyKnSz1P6HTJdlRi_VJnRXZ0jgNnMn3jmop1u5IoolSN_NupnjWkBxvY/s200/veil+of+time.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Veil of Time by Claire R. McDougall (Mar 11<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In the wake of her divorce, Maggie Livingstone leaves her
native Glasgow to rent a holiday cottage at the foot of Dunadd, an ancient
Pictish hill fort in the Scottish highlands, where the kings of Scotland were
once crowned. There she is hoping to find time to herself to finish a
post-graduate thesis on the witch burnings she started before her marriage. But there is too much in Maggie’s past to
allow for much peace and quiet: There’s her epilepsy for which a scheduled
surgery might be her only chance of “normality;” there’s the recent death of
her eleven year-old daughter, Ellie; there’s her teenage son, who left for
boarding school when tensions at home became intolerable. But most of all, there are those vivid dreams
Maggie has in the deep sleep after seizures which make her draw only a fuzzy
line between waking and sleeping. Dunadd, with its own vibrant history, starts
to cross that line, and soon Maggie isn’t sure if she is only dreaming about
her forays back to 735AD. Fergus, the
king of Dunadd’s recently widowed brother, certainly seems real enough to be
more than a passing interest to Maggie. Sula the druidess paints quite a
different picture of the pagan religion than Maggie had understood from her
research. And then there is Fergus’s young daughter, who is so like her own
daughter, Maggie can’t decide which world she belongs in. Back in her own time, Maggie discovers in an
ancient census that 735 AD was the year of a devastating earthquake at Dunadd.
With the date of her surgery fast approaching, Maggie knows she has to get back
to warn Fergus to take his daughter and leave the fort, that the era of his
family’s rule at Dunadd is about to come to an abrupt end.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1qiy6gWGcfHF_PrtM4mqs-nzB67jPPff1LQjerCwB2zWMqFtx2gzR_lyJ8hUz278oIBNvI-4JC9HVRoc1s2V_CTGDPa-E2Bh5SokTsoOCGVuHM4jsIEqwVQ1a0A3ba2_zlrtkSdWfMM/s1600/may+bride.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1qiy6gWGcfHF_PrtM4mqs-nzB67jPPff1LQjerCwB2zWMqFtx2gzR_lyJ8hUz278oIBNvI-4JC9HVRoc1s2V_CTGDPa-E2Bh5SokTsoOCGVuHM4jsIEqwVQ1a0A3ba2_zlrtkSdWfMM/s200/may+bride.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000;">The May Bride by Suzannah Dunn (UK Release Mar 13<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>I didn't stand a chance:
looking back over thirteen years, that's what I see. In the very first instant,
I was won over, and of course I was: I was fifteen and had been nowhere and
done nothing, whereas Katherine was twenty-one and yellow-silk-clad and just
married to the golden boy. Only a few years later, I'd be blaming myself for not
having somehow seen ... but seen what, really? What - really, honestly - was
there to see, when she walked into Hall? She was just a girl, a lovely,
light-stepping girl, smiling that smile of hers, and, back then, as giddy with
goodwill as the rest of us.</i>
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When Katherine Filliol arrives at Wolf Hall as the new young bride of Jane
Seymour's older brother, Edward, Jane is irresistibly drawn to the confident
older girl and they develop a close and trusting friendship, forged during a
long, hot country summer. However, only two years later, the family is
destroyed by Edward's allegations of Katherine's infidelity with his father.
When Jane is also sent away, to serve Katharine of Aragon, she watches another
wife being put aside, with terrible consequences.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9-5HIdZseb0KbpSk9ULg3sbGEcECvuekCuyYQzy4dlJndCnGxhAofKZaVZPYsZzCC0MHnLIs2-kEu83gep7S8jDuBEtiTnV3EqIsbi7wY9ockGW2I0f0OUhnN9yYa5dBEmUPn1ypBvKM/s1600/visitors.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9-5HIdZseb0KbpSk9ULg3sbGEcECvuekCuyYQzy4dlJndCnGxhAofKZaVZPYsZzCC0MHnLIs2-kEu83gep7S8jDuBEtiTnV3EqIsbi7wY9ockGW2I0f0OUhnN9yYa5dBEmUPn1ypBvKM/s200/visitors.jpg" width="135" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Visitors by Patrick O’Keeffe (Mar 13<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">James
Dwyer was born in rural county Limerick before moving to Dublin as a teenager
and ultimately settling in Ann Arbor. One night James’s past appears in the
form of a down-and-out man named Walter, who issues an invitation for James to
come to Upstate New York to visit his old childhood neighbor, Kevin Lyons.
Although neither James nor Kevin particularly cares for each other, there’s no
denying their complicated past. Kevin and James’s sister, Tess, were lovers
while James fell hard for Kevin’s sister, Una.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB3hYDXOoI04XmRz5Ja16BJqcJ6wSfImEFfuuutGRCazL_0d7wF9SS4kEFmEGo1Rnr8FiPq1ntryoRHa12wqf2Beq7tsSrwpxho4mfKyf-pQZsVenN3k1EEduzZyr9rK88XzoZ3DLj8Fg/s1600/cover+not+available.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB3hYDXOoI04XmRz5Ja16BJqcJ6wSfImEFfuuutGRCazL_0d7wF9SS4kEFmEGo1Rnr8FiPq1ntryoRHa12wqf2Beq7tsSrwpxho4mfKyf-pQZsVenN3k1EEduzZyr9rK88XzoZ3DLj8Fg/s200/cover+not+available.png" width="132" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Blood & Beauty by
Sarah Dunant (in PB Mar 14<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">By
the end of the fifteenth century, the beauty and creativity of Italy is matched
only by its brutality and corruption. When Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia buys his way
into the papacy as Alexander VI, the charismatic, consummate politician with a
huge appetite for women and power knows that it will take his entire family to
ensure his triumphant legacy as pope. His eldest son Cesare, with his
dazzlingly cold intelligence and even colder soul, is Rodrigo's greatest-though
increasingly unstable-weapon. Lucrezia, Rodrigo's beloved, beautiful daughter,
is his prime dynastic tool.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeACGhQoW_OYfghaOq95W7zwXn2BbNtJecVN5GJTWu8clcfbjy6rka7RNwcwZC_3scTf0KUW3mmFiFbThb0HVxUkqkaqjMUsbq8ZOkhhNS32aaNlfJ5yvBt4wDASmZb58cj6p0K7mO87E/s1600/chalice+pb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeACGhQoW_OYfghaOq95W7zwXn2BbNtJecVN5GJTWu8clcfbjy6rka7RNwcwZC_3scTf0KUW3mmFiFbThb0HVxUkqkaqjMUsbq8ZOkhhNS32aaNlfJ5yvBt4wDASmZb58cj6p0K7mO87E/s200/chalice+pb.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The
Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau (in PB Mar 18<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">England, 1538. A bloody power
struggle between crown and cross tears England asunder. Young Joanna Stafford
has already tasted the wrath of the royal court, seen what lies inside the
king's torture rooms and escaped death at the hands of those desperate to
possess the power of an ancient relic. After seeing such sights, the quiet life
is not for Joanna. Soon she risks arrest and imprisonment again, when she is
caught up in a conspiracy scheming against Henry VIII. As the powerplays grow
deadly, Joanna must realise if her role is more central than she'd ever
imagined. As one fateful night at the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket proves, she
must make a choice between those she cares for most and taking her place in a
prophecy foretold by three different seers, each more powerful than the last.
To learn the final, sinister piece of the prophecy, she flees across Europe
with an amoral spy sent by Spain. As the necromancers complete the puzzle,
Joanna realises the life of Henry VIII as well as the future of Christendom are
in her hands; hands which must someday hold the chalice that lies at the centre
of these deadly prophecies...</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMD1wZxW9VSGkqvzFZa2YGjfjLvHlTdytBuPulXmC0EHpebq3E83A0DrvGNlU93lSebcIxXDkDZTj2AyXYkkm3z_sujpNXrIujErpr49HPRqc776xbkNZWHC_RdhwyYTm_A3f5ZYgjKE/s1600/roosevelts+beast.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMD1wZxW9VSGkqvzFZa2YGjfjLvHlTdytBuPulXmC0EHpebq3E83A0DrvGNlU93lSebcIxXDkDZTj2AyXYkkm3z_sujpNXrIujErpr49HPRqc776xbkNZWHC_RdhwyYTm_A3f5ZYgjKE/s200/roosevelts+beast.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000;">Roosevelt’s
Beast by Louis Bayard (Mar 18<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1914. Brazil’s <i>Rio da Dúvida</i>, the
River of Doubt. Plagued by hunger and suffering the lingering effects of
malaria, Theodore Roosevelt, his son Kermit, and the other members of the
now-ravaged Roosevelt-Rondon scientific expedition are traveling deeper and
deeper into the jungle. When Kermit and Teddy are kidnapped by a never-before-seen
Amazonian tribe, the great hunters are asked one thing in exchange for their
freedom: find and kill a beast that leaves no tracks and that no member of the
tribe has ever seen. But what are the origins of this beast, and how do they
escape its brutal wrath? <i>Roosevelt's Beast</i>
is a story of the impossible things that become possible when civilization is
miles away, when the mind plays tricks on itself, and when old family secrets
refuse to stay buried. With his characteristically rich storytelling and a touch
of old-fashioned horror, the bestselling and critically acclaimed Louis Bayard
turns the story of the well-known Roosevelt-Rondon expedition on its head and
dares to ask: Are the beasts among us more frightening than the beasts within?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Fever by Mary Beth Keane (in PB Mar 18<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">On the eve of the twentieth century, Mary Mallon emigrated
from Ireland at age fifteen to make her way in New York City. Brave,
headstrong, and dreaming of being a cook, she fought to climb up from the
lowest rung of the domestic-service ladder. Canny and enterprising, she worked
her way to the kitchen, and discovered in herself the true talent of a chef.
Sought after by New York aristocracy, and with an independence rare for a woman
of the time, she seemed to have achieved the life she’d aimed for when she
arrived in Castle Garden. Then one determined “medical engineer” noticed that
she left a trail of disease wherever she cooked, and identified her as an
“asymptomatic carrier” of Typhoid Fever. With this seemingly preposterous
theory, he made Mallon a hunted woman. The
Department of Health sent Mallon to North Brother Island, where she was kept in
isolation from 1907 to 1910, then released under the condition that she never
work as a cook again. Yet for Mary—proud of her former status and passionate
about cooking—the alternatives were abhorrent. She defied the edict. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisvx81cT-XhFOOFWtY3w5CQtPkoOpKKKbcDGliu2QOgTuyTM9xYz49wKNNMC3dgQQs6vLiGQS6Nk0zB3icvdcEIDsaGpkrEVOah76SEgq-HCwz6PlzYaUK6g5nQqOMcsWjQO1DJQMbr0U/s1600/seducing+indgrid+bergman.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisvx81cT-XhFOOFWtY3w5CQtPkoOpKKKbcDGliu2QOgTuyTM9xYz49wKNNMC3dgQQs6vLiGQS6Nk0zB3icvdcEIDsaGpkrEVOah76SEgq-HCwz6PlzYaUK6g5nQqOMcsWjQO1DJQMbr0U/s200/seducing+indgrid+bergman.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Seducing Ingrid Bergman by Chris Greenhalgh (Mar 18<sup>th</sup>)</b></span><b> </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>June,
1945:</b>In
newly liberated Paris, battle-ravaged photographer Robert Capa is drowning his
sorrows. After ten years of recording horror and violence, he longs for a
diversion. Ingrid Bergman has been sent to entertain the troops and when she
walks into the Ritz Hotel Capa is enchanted. From the moment he slips a mischievous
invitation to dinner under her door, the two find themselves helplessly
attracted. Ingrid, tired of her passionless marriage, and her controlling film
studio, is desperate for freedom and excitement. And Capa is willing to oblige.
Dinners in cafes he can’t afford. Night walks along the Seine. Dancing barefoot
in nightclubs. Trysts in hotel rooms. He brings her back to life and she fills
the hole inside him. But with everything
at stake, both Capa and Ingrid are presented with terrible choices.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VHXCpG4eDVqOdV3ajl6EkeOKU594yAnkuxyyfoWdGFuKrDtICcDvS8LAaDnYLQ_F_HB7F_1JtJxWbW2nA1DjOrFQ1t4T2zlEeb9j47chVsjZEKNU-Sn8NOUE-eBN0Ws2BABKIxormy8/s1600/citadel.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VHXCpG4eDVqOdV3ajl6EkeOKU594yAnkuxyyfoWdGFuKrDtICcDvS8LAaDnYLQ_F_HB7F_1JtJxWbW2nA1DjOrFQ1t4T2zlEeb9j47chVsjZEKNU-Sn8NOUE-eBN0Ws2BABKIxormy8/s200/citadel.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Citadel by Kate Mosse (Mar 18<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Carcassonne 1942. A spirited and courageous young woman,
Sandrine, finds herself drawn into the world of the Resistance in Carcassonne
under German Occupation. Her network - codenamed 'Citadel' - is made up of
ordinary women who risk everything to fight the sinister battles raging in the
shadows around them. As the war reaches
its violent and bloody conclusion, Sandrine's fate is tied up with that of
three very different men. But who is the real enemy? Who is the real threat?
And who is the true guardian of the ancient secrets that for generations have
drawn people to the foothills of the Pyrenean Mountains?</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGIEhlsZfwZ6eKE5k3e5NG9_w1PlYfeF0N9Ehje-IUcwrCkkU1ad0F4L96itka0ZfAg5-Rui4E6cKo5m3PB36sm7sgkkwr77gGvdBSF7ah4dlbe4w3dBAf2PlGBc3WUxUuJ-jX8px7EYs/s1600/queen+elizabeths+daugher.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGIEhlsZfwZ6eKE5k3e5NG9_w1PlYfeF0N9Ehje-IUcwrCkkU1ad0F4L96itka0ZfAg5-Rui4E6cKo5m3PB36sm7sgkkwr77gGvdBSF7ah4dlbe4w3dBAf2PlGBc3WUxUuJ-jX8px7EYs/s200/queen+elizabeths+daugher.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Queen
Elizabeth’s Daughter by Anne Clinard Barnhill (Mar 18<sup>th</sup>)</b></span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Mistress Mary Shelton is Queen
Elizabeth’s favorite ward, enjoying every privilege the position affords. The
queen loves Mary like a daughter, and, like any good mother, she wants her to
make a powerful match. The most likely prospect: Edward de Vere, Earl of
Oxford. But while Oxford seems to be everything the queen admires:
clever, polished and wealthy, Mary knows him to be lecherous, cruel, and full
of treachery. No matter how hard the queen tries to push her into his
arms, Mary refuses. Instead, Mary falls in love with a man who is completely
unsuitable. Sir John Skydemore is a minor knight with little money, a widower
with five children. Worst of all, he’s a Catholic at a time when Catholic
plots against Elizabeth are rampant. The queen forbids Mary to wed the man she
loves. When the young woman, who is the queen’s own flesh and blood, defies
her, the couple finds their very lives in danger as Elizabeth’s wrath knows no
bounds. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvKjSEvQVtmbd-rU8sCaE8J0jK-f5AzcGzI4zO_9fqEXgfo88rBS0-Rnd1VM7lOqcYb-ZzeV5e3DRLl-TFLiYBnb865ma9nbbtjyevRjHfdD-nWg42_sKHWktpXgHQlfqIAumMCWvUhY8/s1600/cover+not+available.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvKjSEvQVtmbd-rU8sCaE8J0jK-f5AzcGzI4zO_9fqEXgfo88rBS0-Rnd1VM7lOqcYb-ZzeV5e3DRLl-TFLiYBnb865ma9nbbtjyevRjHfdD-nWg42_sKHWktpXgHQlfqIAumMCWvUhY8/s1600/cover+not+available.png" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Hyde by Daniel Levine (Mar 18<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Mr. Hyde is hiding, trapped in Dr. Jekyll’s
surgical cabinet, counting the hours until capture. As four days pass, he has
the chance, finally, to tell the story of his brief, marvelous life. We join
Hyde, awakened after years of dormancy, in the mind he hesitantly shares with
Jekyll. We spin with dizzy confusion as the potions take effect. We tromp
through the dark streets of Victorian London. We watch Jekyll’s high-class life
at a remove, blurred by a membrane of consciousness. We feel the horror of lost
time, the helplessness of knowing we are responsible for the actions of a body
not entirely our own. Girls have gone missing. Someone has been killed. The
evidence points to Mr. Hyde. Someone is framing him, terrorizing him with
cryptic notes and whisper campaigns. Who can it be? Even if these crimes
weren’t of his choosing, can they have been by his hand?</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqZt99u2Ts3tUxCiaxD2hZJdwPJaJQBArhd0L4k7ulEBIPNzqtMH7hYYkUjF7mpZM4124-qbqFEbszXxL3FnaBuQH-L0n1x3d_WI4cqpjVuWMT2G8RKDYD6V-ai93Bh8FIOo6lARWasQ/s1600/city+of+jasmine.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqZt99u2Ts3tUxCiaxD2hZJdwPJaJQBArhd0L4k7ulEBIPNzqtMH7hYYkUjF7mpZM4124-qbqFEbszXxL3FnaBuQH-L0n1x3d_WI4cqpjVuWMT2G8RKDYD6V-ai93Bh8FIOo6lARWasQ/s200/city+of+jasmine.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">City of Jasmine by Deanna
Raybourn (Mar 25<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Famed
aviatrix Evangeline Starke never expected to see her husband, adventurer
Gabriel Starke, ever again. They had been a golden couple, enjoying a whirlwind
courtship amid the backdrop of a glittering social set in prewar London until
his sudden death with the sinking of the Lusitania. Five years later, beginning
to embrace life again, Evie embarks upon a flight around the world, collecting
fame and admirers along the way. In the midst of her triumphant tour, she is
shocked to receive a mysterious—and recent—photograph of Gabriel, which brings
her ambitious stunt to a screeching halt. With her eccentric aunt Dove in
tow, Evie tracks the source of the photo to the ancient City of Jasmine,
Damascus. There she discovers that nothing is as it seems. Danger lurks at
every turn, and at stake is a priceless relic, an artifact once lost to time
and so valuable that criminals will stop at nothing to acquire it—even murder.
Leaving the jewelled city behind, Evie sets off across the punishing sands of
the desert to unearth the truth of Gabriel's disappearance and retrieve a relic
straight from the pages of history. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEG0qkXEjc3st9Rx3ZWa4EY7ZyM0XrRq7QmCxM5DfmUORlu3pWufsmUDhc3YLbXdkRziW_DSI7k6xVwIx4p_2kZTfZ8N9IjNkJDiJ9s2x0Rv9H5Art6fSqpb_nzJqQtCRpt-mXWCrKI4E/s1600/a+murder+at+rosamunds+gate.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEG0qkXEjc3st9Rx3ZWa4EY7ZyM0XrRq7QmCxM5DfmUORlu3pWufsmUDhc3YLbXdkRziW_DSI7k6xVwIx4p_2kZTfZ8N9IjNkJDiJ9s2x0Rv9H5Art6fSqpb_nzJqQtCRpt-mXWCrKI4E/s200/a+murder+at+rosamunds+gate.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate by Susanna Calkins (in PB Mar 25<sup>th</sup>)</b></span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">For
Lucy Campion, a seventeenth-century English chambermaid serving in the
household of the local magistrate, life is an endless repetition of polishing
pewter, emptying chamber pots, and dealing with other household chores until a
fellow servant is ruthlessly killed, and someone she loves is wrongly arrested
for the crime. In a time where the accused are presumed guilty until proven
innocent, lawyers aren't permitted to defend their clients, and--if the plague
doesn't kill them first--public executions draw a large crowd of spectators,
Lucy knows she may never see this person alive again. Unless, that is, she can
identify the true murderer. Determined
to do just that, Lucy finds herself venturing out of her expected station and
into raucous printers' shops, secretive gypsy camps, the foul streets of
London, and even the bowels of Newgate prison on a trail that might lead her
straight into the arms of the killer.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPc2XPfao5QBPTb7jAp7Ho0tF9sTFPbEnJvC1pCnqSW1uTSa1U4APSXu0yd88zoEkMgVlyZyPZ0EtjLwWUme14Gvg8jw9jNNq7q0l1KAdFSv7orfKKKBjj-qE7uvgBfl9rRzMhvviz70/s1600/man+without+breath.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPc2XPfao5QBPTb7jAp7Ho0tF9sTFPbEnJvC1pCnqSW1uTSa1U4APSXu0yd88zoEkMgVlyZyPZ0EtjLwWUme14Gvg8jw9jNNq7q0l1KAdFSv7orfKKKBjj-qE7uvgBfl9rRzMhvviz70/s200/man+without+breath.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">A Man without Breath by Philip Kerr (in PB
Mar 25<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Berlin, March, 1943. </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">A
month has passed since the stunning defeat at Stalingrad. Though Hitler insists
Germany is winning the war, commanders on the ground know better. Morale is
low, discipline at risk. Now word has reached Berlin of a Red massacre of
Polish officers in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk. If true, the message it
would send to the troops is clear: Fight on or risk certain death. For once,
both the Wehrmacht and Propaganda Minister Goebbels want the same thing:
irrefutable evidence of this Russian atrocity. To the Wehrmacht, such proof
will soften the reality of its own war crimes in the eyes of the victors. For
Goebbels, such proof could turn the tide of war by destroying the Alliance,
cutting Russia off from its western supply lines. Both parties agree that the ensuing
investigation must be overseen by a professional trained in sifting evidence
and interrogating witnesses. Anything that smells of incompetence or tampering
will defeat their purposes. And so Bernie Gunther is dispatched to Smolensk,
where truth is as much a victim of war as those poor dead Polish officers. <b>Smolensk, March, 1943. </b>Army Group Center is an enclave of
Prussian aristocrats who have owned the Wehrmacht almost as long as they’ve
owned their baronial estates, an officer class whose families have been
intermarrying for generations. The wisecracking, rough-edged Gunther is not a
good fit. He is, after all, a Berlin bull. But he has a far bigger concern than
sharp elbows and supercilious stares, for somewhere in this mix is a cunning
and savage killer who has left a trail of bloody victims. This is no psycho case. This is a man with
motive enough to kill and skills enough to leave no trace of himself. Bad luck
that in this war zone, such skills are two-a-penny. Somehow Bernie must put a
face to this killer before he puts an end to Bernie.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmu-xZb72nv1oWcUU0PQCZJvSaxBdTvPXqXT6cliF1MeJ7dydV6-GsNKn5Z5feWN8elTUzQ8SBkC8DEcJG5t_RYGV89wN7btc4VUFI8cYQcW9uoXeKI_B54Gt_KsP2dqNPVtyNs0d-gcQ/s1600/revenant+of+thraxton+hall.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmu-xZb72nv1oWcUU0PQCZJvSaxBdTvPXqXT6cliF1MeJ7dydV6-GsNKn5Z5feWN8elTUzQ8SBkC8DEcJG5t_RYGV89wN7btc4VUFI8cYQcW9uoXeKI_B54Gt_KsP2dqNPVtyNs0d-gcQ/s200/revenant+of+thraxton+hall.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The
Revenant of Thraxton Hall by Vaughn Entwistle (Mar 25<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Arthur Conan Doyle has just
killed off Sherlock Holmes in “The Final Problem,” and he immediately becomes
one of the most hated men in London. So when he is contacted by a medium “of
some renown” and asked to investigate a murder, he jumps at the chance to get
out of the city. The only thing is that the murder hasn’t happened yet—the
medium, one Hope Thraxton, has foreseen that her death will occur at the third
séance of a meeting of the Society for Psychical Research at her manor house in
the English countryside. Along for the ride is Conan Doyle’s good friend
Oscar Wilde, and together they work to narrow down the list of suspects, which
includes a mysterious foreign Count, a levitating magician, and an irritable
old woman with a “familiar.” Meanwhile, Conan Doyle is enchanted by the plight
of the capricious Hope Thraxton, who may or may not have a more complicated
back-story than it first appears. As Conan Doyle and Wilde participate in
séances and consider the possible motives of the assembled group, the
clock ticks ever closer to Hope’s murder.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpv5w_veFwus4LgL2pJN-1nu5E667B2ZJ_1-skKMg8N5dsLXBJw_WRhGUrYf1xJJkCG5lYhvKMPCMS3dM6tIeuC8WDIjdtv2YW8nS47JsI0pvAdSbheEBrEPPiCmTXJUuqZNg4LoA6xXk/s300/for+such+a+time.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpv5w_veFwus4LgL2pJN-1nu5E667B2ZJ_1-skKMg8N5dsLXBJw_WRhGUrYf1xJJkCG5lYhvKMPCMS3dM6tIeuC8WDIjdtv2YW8nS47JsI0pvAdSbheEBrEPPiCmTXJUuqZNg4LoA6xXk/s200/for+such+a+time.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">For Such a Time by Kate Breslin (Mar 25th)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In 1944, blonde and blue-eyed Jewess Hadassah Benjamin
feels abandoned by God when she is saved from a firing squad only to be handed
over to a new enemy. Pressed into service by SS-Kommandant Colonel Aric von
Schmidt at the transit camp of Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia, she is able to
hide behind the false identity of Stella Muller. However, in order to survive
and maintain her cover as Aric's secretary, she is forced to stand by as her
own people are sent to Auschwitz. Suspecting
her employer is a man of hidden depths and sympathies, Stella cautiously
appeals to him on behalf of those in the camp. Aric's compassion gives her
hope, and she finds herself battling a growing attraction for this man she
knows she should despise as an enemy. Stella pours herself into her efforts to keep even some of the camp's prisoners
safe, but she risks the revelation of her true identity with every attempt.
When her bravery brings her to the point of the ultimate sacrifice, she has
only her faith to lean upon. Perhaps God has placed her there for such a time
as this, but how can she save her people when she is unable to save herself?</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip8rqvD84s2PpzC_gahdAd8Q6_8dsDmo2mUgPaQWHAm_AyEqKvgpMeMmC54ewPjZuAKVT915Uv1H2BCJdqRbok3n9Tk0fWQGBsz1oL6784VRtyi8mBwGe11Vr4KpNX8YclsqijFg02Hfs/s1600/ashford+affair+pb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip8rqvD84s2PpzC_gahdAd8Q6_8dsDmo2mUgPaQWHAm_AyEqKvgpMeMmC54ewPjZuAKVT915Uv1H2BCJdqRbok3n9Tk0fWQGBsz1oL6784VRtyi8mBwGe11Vr4KpNX8YclsqijFg02Hfs/s200/ashford+affair+pb.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig (in PB Mar 25<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">As a lawyer in a large Manhattan firm, just shy of making
partner, Clementine Evans has finally achieved almost everything she's been
working towards - but now she's not sure it's enough. Her long hours have led
to a broken engagement and, suddenly single at thirty-four, she feels her messy
life crumbling around her. But when the family gathers for her grandmother
Addie's ninety-ninth birthday, a relative lets slip hints about a long-buried
family secret, leading Clemmie on a journey into the past that could change
everything...What follows is a potent story that spans generations and
continents, bringing an Out of Africa feel to a Downton Abbey cast of
unforgettable characters. From the inner circles of WWI-era British society to
the skyscrapers of Manhattan and the red-dirt hills of Kenya, the never-told
secrets of a woman and family unfurl.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyz___sjS0KSRrKELXKR-gHIyKRDmCextdiWTLOHyUMHwhc8IiNT8Sook3VVR1gbUObNaUuNb8R661vDV0ZP_cmhvQhr3ryZactbL5HRkVIsanzL8nrm0EY6HiOmV7bxSet-r3FJcwLE/s1600/death+on+blackheath.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyz___sjS0KSRrKELXKR-gHIyKRDmCextdiWTLOHyUMHwhc8IiNT8Sook3VVR1gbUObNaUuNb8R661vDV0ZP_cmhvQhr3ryZactbL5HRkVIsanzL8nrm0EY6HiOmV7bxSet-r3FJcwLE/s200/death+on+blackheath.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Death on Blackheath by Anne
Perry (in PB Mar 25<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Greenwich,1897. A macabre scene is discovered outside a
house on Shooters Hill. There has been a vicious fight, and amid the
bloodstains are locks of long auburn hair. Thomas Pitt, head of Special Branch,
is called: this is the home of Dudley Kynaston, a minister with access to some
of the government's most dangerous secrets, and any inquiry must be handled
with utmost discretion. Although an auburn-haired housemaid is missing from
Kynaston's household, with no evidence there is little Pitt can do. Until a
corpse, mutilated beyond recognition, is discovered a few weeks later. As Pitt
begins to investigate, he finds small inconsistencies in Kynaston's story. Are
these harmless omissions, or could they lead to something more serious,
something that could threaten not just Kynaston's own family but also his Queen
and country?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimQzxFkQ22WlMS5a7CEnwZiLSpUlHOqyyYr_MKIJK9e2VCSH9M9KAzH0SxP8T8Bqa9XTp0W4z-YwLvaVDRicZaoJ0ZGkI14A1p5eKkEnT3uWxTKMR8kPUvAbh92-KfrrSmSR_Q3lrnlW0/s1600/river+of+no+return+pb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimQzxFkQ22WlMS5a7CEnwZiLSpUlHOqyyYr_MKIJK9e2VCSH9M9KAzH0SxP8T8Bqa9XTp0W4z-YwLvaVDRicZaoJ0ZGkI14A1p5eKkEnT3uWxTKMR8kPUvAbh92-KfrrSmSR_Q3lrnlW0/s200/river+of+no+return+pb.jpg" width="132" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway (in PB Mar 25<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">“You
are now a member of the Guild. There is no return.”Two hundred years
after he was about to die on a Napoleonic battlefield, Nick Falcott,
soldier and aristocrat, wakes up in a hospital bed in modern London. The
Guild, an entity that controls time travel, showers him with life's
advantages. But Nick yearns for home and for one brown-eyed girl, lost
now down the centuries. Then the Guild asks him to break its own rule.
It needs Nick to go back to 1815 to fight the Guild’s enemies and to
find something called the Talisman. In 1815, Julia Percy mourns the
death of her beloved grandfather, an earl who could play with time. On
his deathbed he whispers in her ear: “Pretend!” Pretend what? When Nick
returns home as if from the dead, older than he should be and battle
scarred, Julia begins to suspect that her very life depends upon the
secrets Grandfather never told her. Soon enough Julia and Nick are
caught up in an adventure that stretches up and down the river of time.
As their knowledge of the Guild and their feelings for each other grow,
the fate of the future itself is hanging in the balance.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXEr2EYERlkuXO39usuzfvXgnrsop-PIMAwHSHkXdCuKz0_8vvOJy0XfwsaP9tYKTKA9LbHhxQ2vUNCiwWy3lYMvWlPFU1zAIFBv2pNGfb2sj7h24F8OgORarrLtzI9tsq8E4tarqhRE/s1600/berkeley+square+affair.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXEr2EYERlkuXO39usuzfvXgnrsop-PIMAwHSHkXdCuKz0_8vvOJy0XfwsaP9tYKTKA9LbHhxQ2vUNCiwWy3lYMvWlPFU1zAIFBv2pNGfb2sj7h24F8OgORarrLtzI9tsq8E4tarqhRE/s200/berkeley+square+affair.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Berkeley Square
Affair by Teresa Grant (Mar 25<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A
stolen treasure may hold the secret to a ghastly crime. . . Ensconced in the comfort of their elegant
home in London's Berkeley Square, Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch are no longer
subject to the perilous life of intrigue they led during the Napoleonic Wars.
Once an Intelligence Agent, Malcolm is now a Member of Parliament, and Suzanne
is one of the city's most sought-after hostesses. But a late-night visit from a
friend who's been robbed may lure them back into the dangerous world they
thought they'd left behind. . . Playwright
Simon Tanner had in his possession what may be a lost version of Hamlet, and
the thieves were prepared to kill for it. But the Rannochs suspect there's more
at stake than a literary gem--for the play may conceal the identity of a
Bonapartist spy--along with secrets that could force Malcolm and Suzanne to
abandon their newfound peace and confront their own dark past. . .</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBxhUBPaCuRDvl_82UxYI3QHirrHSll4OLaCDePn9tfLtdsBuS4VN6B6mnLCZykiJ53ifA093muIE4vmlG6oRPhgHloZsjOJC1cy4Pvl9Jsi8zGUv4CH6rtuxDGyPnksLg91I5PzjMEU/s1600/magnolia+city.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBxhUBPaCuRDvl_82UxYI3QHirrHSll4OLaCDePn9tfLtdsBuS4VN6B6mnLCZykiJ53ifA093muIE4vmlG6oRPhgHloZsjOJC1cy4Pvl9Jsi8zGUv4CH6rtuxDGyPnksLg91I5PzjMEU/s200/magnolia+city.jpg" width="136" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Magnolia City by Duncan
W. Alderson (Mar 25<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Houston
in the 1920s is a city of established cotton kings and newly rich oil barons,
where the elite live in beaux art mansions behind the gates of Courtlandt
Place. Kirby Augustus Allen, grandson of the Allen brothers who founded Houston
as a real estate deal, is grooming his daughter Hetty to marry Lamar Rusk,
scion of the Splendora oil fortune. Instead, at the No-Tsu-Oh Carnival of 1928,
beautiful, rebellious Hetty encounters a mysterious man from Montana dressed in
the gear of a wildcatter--an outsider named Garret MacBride. Hetty is torn
between Lamar's lavish courtship and her instinctive connection to Garret. As
Lamar's wife she would be guaranteed acceptance to the highest ranks of Houston
society. Yet Garret, poor but powerfully ambitious, offers the adventure she
craves, with rendezvous in illicit jazz clubs and reckless nights of passion.
The men's intense rivalry extends to business, as rumors of a vast, untapped
ocean of oil in East Texas spark a frenzy that can make fortunes--or shatter
lives and dreams beyond repair. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8udmjeBIPDcQTLljyVDGtVAvbSK0Omq1_ezASuvCyn4O6kMooo1epyW122XL2YpfBZzzLENLJpRiqO_u68LIn80GljhgKgQFXAgg282XX1Xz6d1dA_-lP8g2kOlyOQYXtRG0vDF2WBko/s1600/midnight+witch.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8udmjeBIPDcQTLljyVDGtVAvbSK0Omq1_ezASuvCyn4O6kMooo1epyW122XL2YpfBZzzLENLJpRiqO_u68LIn80GljhgKgQFXAgg282XX1Xz6d1dA_-lP8g2kOlyOQYXtRG0vDF2WBko/s200/midnight+witch.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Midnight Witch by Paula Brackston (Mar 25<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Lilith is the daughter of the sixth Duke of
Radnor. She is one of the most beautiful young women in London and engaged to
the city’s most eligible bachelor. She is also a witch. When her father dies,
her hapless brother Freddie takes the title. But it is Lilith, instructed in
the art of necromancy, who inherits their father’s role as Head Witch of the
Lazarus Coven. And it is Lilith who must face the threat of the Sentinels, a
powerful group of sorcerers intent on reclaiming the Elixir from the coven’s
guardianship for their own dark purposes. Lilith knows the Lazarus creed:
secrecy and silence. To abandon either would put both the coven and all she
holds dear in grave danger. She has spent her life honoring it, right down to
her charming fiancé and fellow witch, Viscount Louis Harcourt. Until the day
she meets Bram, a talented artist who is neither a witch nor a member of her
class. With him, she must not be secret and silent. Despite her loyalty to the
coven and duty to her family, Lilith cannot keep her life as a witch hidden
from the man she loves. To tell him will risk everything.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4Hzgrj9M9VqRpeOn0Cf-pIQLBTfj8rDY1lS6XdNv1e5WfvorK9wxxm2z-CigJGPKi81m8JLT_H-OUSPUDGzT9sudRjAFiKP2D7GXAD8liGCQPHPugdkzMb3cN4JJXdi1xCLCJ65cSDw/s1600/spymistress.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4Hzgrj9M9VqRpeOn0Cf-pIQLBTfj8rDY1lS6XdNv1e5WfvorK9wxxm2z-CigJGPKi81m8JLT_H-OUSPUDGzT9sudRjAFiKP2D7GXAD8liGCQPHPugdkzMb3cN4JJXdi1xCLCJ65cSDw/s200/spymistress.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Spymistress by
Jennifer Chiaverini (in PB Mar 25<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Born
to slave-holding aristocracy in Richmond, Virginia, and educated by Northern
Quakers, Elizabeth Van Lew was a paradox of her time. When her native state
seceded in April 1861, Van Lew’s convictions compelled her to defy the new
Confederate regime. Pledging her loyalty to the Lincoln White House, her
courage would never waver, even as her wartime actions threatened not only her
reputation, but also her life. Van Lew’s skills in gathering military intelligence
were unparalleled. She helped to construct the Richmond Underground and
orchestrated escapes from the infamous Confederate Libby Prison under the guise
of humanitarian aid. Her spy ring’s reach was vast, from clerks in the
Confederate War and Navy Departments to the very home of Confederate President
Jefferson Davis.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpG52EhyphenhyphenB6is-YvhmYov-wG1mc6jt_rJFE-COGofTII5iXsa3PnJsR0UEnhiaZ-BavUBjPCxmX4c6P4bQZsWralIUrdKolJ9Jm8LZQc44f79LcgkuG7R9e2t8mtvrQbFxLtva_2QcRfs/s1600/murder+at+the+breakers.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpG52EhyphenhyphenB6is-YvhmYov-wG1mc6jt_rJFE-COGofTII5iXsa3PnJsR0UEnhiaZ-BavUBjPCxmX4c6P4bQZsWralIUrdKolJ9Jm8LZQc44f79LcgkuG7R9e2t8mtvrQbFxLtva_2QcRfs/s200/murder+at+the+breakers.jpg" width="135" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Murder at the Breakers by
Alyssa Maxwell (Mar 25<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">As
the nineteenth century comes to a close, the illustrious Vanderbilt family
dominates Newport, Rhode Island, high society. But when murder darkens a
glittering affair at the Vanderbilt summer home, reporter Emma Cross learns
that sometimes the actions of the cream of society can curdle one's blood. . . Newport, Rhode Island, August 1895: She may
be a less well-heeled relation, but as second cousin to millionaire patriarch
Cornelius Vanderbilt, twenty-one-year-old Emma Cross is on the guest list for a
grand ball at the Breakers, the Vanderbilts' summer home. She also has a job to
do--report on the event for the society page of the Newport Observer. But Emma
observes much more than glitz and gaiety when she witnesses a murder. The
victim is Cornelius Vanderbilt's financial secretary, who plunges off a balcony
faster than falling stock prices. Emma's black sheep brother Brady is found in
Cornelius's bedroom passed out next to a bottle of bourbon and stolen plans for
a new railroad line. Brady has barely come to before the police have arrested
him for the murder. But Emma is sure someone is trying to railroad her brother
and resolves to find the real killer at any cost. . .</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtsQCxnP5fkY7MsnBNUE_Ynn1qRLt3gsHG6r297ILuDEksYcHri-cfPh64nLehP_9LeUCqwI2H7jM7XGtS-LiegyKuge9dYd3EcJ-EabT8r1lunmicn05PLUlI-zNNdXOQyNLZtbAgUc/s1600/cover+not+available.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtsQCxnP5fkY7MsnBNUE_Ynn1qRLt3gsHG6r297ILuDEksYcHri-cfPh64nLehP_9LeUCqwI2H7jM7XGtS-LiegyKuge9dYd3EcJ-EabT8r1lunmicn05PLUlI-zNNdXOQyNLZtbAgUc/s200/cover+not+available.png" width="132" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin (UK Release Mar 27<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Empress
Elisabeth 'Sisi' of Austria is famed in her 1865 Winterhalter portrait
depicting her lustrous, long dark hair studded with twenty-seven
sparkling diamond stars, her pale, porcelain skin, her ruby lips and
exquisite poise. Intelligent, beautiful and bored, she decides to leave
her husband, Franz Joseph to his books, and pursue her love of hunting
in a trip to England. It is there, riding with the hunt at Easton
Neston, that she meets Bay Middleton, charismatic, handsome - and as
excellent a rider as she is herself. Sisi is royalty, and married; Bay
is charming, a commoner and betrothed - and his fiancee, Charlotte, is
no fool...Rich in period detail, this is a delicious, playful novel of a
woman bound by her upbringing, and a man who cannot resist breaking
rules.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XjBC-d2RFhchejC15sEmRAUQisT6ZKR6SoVYwHEfxdBvq-rvgszbRFMPUFM9jdscgUEah5dJyPRwgtwSyj1IOJSCc6_WvbhBwoCeL70ftiNpifUIUZD4aLW-ySX-Bddr9kDFM7jq6ow/s1600/bellagrand.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XjBC-d2RFhchejC15sEmRAUQisT6ZKR6SoVYwHEfxdBvq-rvgszbRFMPUFM9jdscgUEah5dJyPRwgtwSyj1IOJSCc6_WvbhBwoCeL70ftiNpifUIUZD4aLW-ySX-Bddr9kDFM7jq6ow/s200/bellagrand.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Bellagrand by Paullina Simons (Mar 27<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">After their whirlwind romance, Gina and Harry must learn
what it really takes to mesh their families and their cultures. Readers will be
delighted to see exactly how these characters fit into the <i>Bronze Horseman</i>
legacy.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-84219739724945987632013-11-22T10:00:00.000-05:002013-11-22T10:00:10.221-05:00February Historical Fiction Preview<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wuRc05HAIXAkMGH_5KdQmv4XDT1Hb5a05VCODNda4E7qHQ5wwpyfiNepkPgTQUT8VKHxG5DryzG-tD4I6OMIPxbwnh3ZTEyGuxPYAIlxxBI96Rsw6ntNdumgExYMkVKOWvJWfw4WNws/s200/imposter+bride.jpg" width="133" /></b></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler (in PB Feb 4<sup>th</sup>) </b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In
the wake of World War II, a young, enigmatic woman named Lily arrives
in Montreal on her own, expecting to be married to a man she’s never
met. But, upon seeing her at the train station, Sol Kramer turns her
down. Out of pity, his brother Nathan decides to marry her instead, and
pity turns into a deep—and doomed—love. It is immediately clear that
Lily is not who she claims to be. Her attempt to live out her life as
Lily Azerov shatters when she disappears, leaving a new husband and a
baby daughter with only a diary, a large uncut diamond – and a need to
find the truth. Who is Lily and what happened to the young woman whose
identity she stole? Why has she left and where did she go? It's up to
the daughter Lily abandoned to find the answers to these questions, as
she searches for the mother she may never find or truly know. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI66QUGECs9XDl8vOMbSUyoGk-GPd-oqM6W15wAiHRW1pRLxdvbR9rLGKusPkvXdjHoYf-drJSrZ3Ab11IIBG_iRNgE89Mhyi5FR5AVwl28p8EkBw2pNsbmBNV9LfCRSSIUlzdkyguIb0/s1600/painted+girls.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI66QUGECs9XDl8vOMbSUyoGk-GPd-oqM6W15wAiHRW1pRLxdvbR9rLGKusPkvXdjHoYf-drJSrZ3Ab11IIBG_iRNgE89Mhyi5FR5AVwl28p8EkBw2pNsbmBNV9LfCRSSIUlzdkyguIb0/s200/painted+girls.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan (in PB Feb 4<sup>th</sup>)</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Paris,
1878. Following the death of their father from overwork, the three Van
Goethem sisters find their lives upended. Without their father's wages,
and with what little their mother earns as a laundress disappearing down
the absinthe bottle, eviction from their single boarding room seems
imminent. With few options for work available for a girl, bookish
fourteen-year-old Marie and her younger sister Charlotte are dispatched
to the Paris Opera, where for a scant seven francs a week, the girls
will be trained to enter its famous ballet. Their older sister, stubborn
and insolent seventeen-year-old Antoinette, dismissed from the ballet,
finds herself launched into the orbit of Emile Zola and the influence of
his notorious naturalist masterpiece L'Assommoir -- and into the arms
of a young man who may turn out to be a murderer. Marie throws herself
into dance, hoping her natural gift and hard work will enable her to
escape her circumstances, but the competition to become one of the
famous etoiles at whose feet flowers are thrown nightly is fierce, and
Marie is forced to turn elsewhere to make money. Cripplingly
self-conscious about her low-class appearance, she nonetheless finds
herself modeling in the studio of Edgar Degas, where her image will
forever be immortalized in his controversial sculpture Little Dancer,
Aged 14. Antoinette, meanwhile, descends lower and lower in society and
must make the choice between honest labor as a laundress and the more
profitable avenues available to a young woman in the Paris demimonde --
that is unless her love for the dangerous Emile Abadie derails her
completely.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30_FxEvHPWcXJ4bSgNYMihDcmNj-qDA9S6Yfx4cqGpHcfB2HHsIuwqcD5QOejb3LDd6e3eKfhH9XBAOyEa3oU92RmYjCZOoWu6EQs9j_V0EPjKV0V0dm_vvyv5X2IpawCQdIG-2wF3t4/s200/fall+of+marigolds.jpg" width="133" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner (Feb 4<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">September 1911</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">.
On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face
returning to Manhattan, where the man she loved fell to his death in the
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then, while caring for a fevered immigrant
whose own loss mirrors hers, she becomes intrigued by a name embroidered
onto the scarf he carries and finds herself caught in a dilemma that
compels her to confront the truth about the assumptions she’s made. Will
what she learns devastate her or free her? September 2011. On
Manhattan’s Upper West Side, widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself
that she is living fully, working in a charming specialty fabric store
and raising her daughter alone. Then a long-lost photograph appears in a
national magazine, and she is forced to relive the terrible day her
husband died in the collapse of the World Trade Towers the same day a
stranger reached out and saved her. Will a chance reconnection and a
century-old scarf open Taryn’s eyes to the larger forces at work in her
life?</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53LEfAIhLp4o9VFbZ7AbispHY2O3CHKrO3JfCePgHrlpjUe3Pp_r0rXa_oac0qztZxjysz_x5r26WQe1XzulPKTBi7UrcZ2ER-zxYvgA3I10RVTPE-rviSOsw8z3gBJWNvKchVGX_98Y/s200/india+black+and+the+gentleman+thief.jpg" width="128" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>India Black and the Gentleman Thief by Carol K. Carr (Feb 4<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">India
Black’s double life operating a high-class brothel and running
high-stakes espionage for Her Majesty’s government can take its toll.
But there’s no rest for the weary—particularly when an international
conspiracy comes knocking. India Black is one of Victorian London’s most
respected madams—not a bloody postmistress. So when Colonel Francis
Mayhew forwards a seemingly innocuous shipping bill to her address,
she’s puzzled. And when three thugs bust down her door, steal the
envelope, and rough up both her and fellow agent French well, that’s
enough to make India Black see red. The veteran spies soon discover
that Mayhew has been butchered in his own bedroom. An impromptu
investigation leads them to London’s docks, where India makes a
startling discovery she can’t bear to tell the rakish French—she has a
history with their chief suspect, the gentleman thief who once stole her
heart.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDtIm1EcoaXc8rtdZ2jadqHDtdsIlmIO2ReZz8EBqMbtmEbZM1OzZNTuOeEqPPGjh9lWeW1V9XGkZGngdRjkT_81CqfSFaUg_99E1okE6WOAIJB2kaPetjmA8B9iIKvYVyQM1rKiw8WDE/s200/who+thinks+evil.jpg" width="131" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Who Thinks Evil: A Professor Moriarty Novel by Michael Kurland (Feb 4<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
London, 1892, a well-guarded young nobleman goes missing under
distressing circumstances. The nobleman, one Baron Renfrew, is actually
Prince Albert Victor, eldest grandson of Queen Victoria. He disappeared
while he was visiting a house of ill repute, with bodyguards both inside
and outside the building—with his inside bodyguard rendered unconscious
and the trussed-up corpse of a brutally murdered young woman left
behind. Hoping to find the missing Prince and to clear him of the
murder, the royal family is looking for a brilliant—and, more
importantly, discreet—investigator. Sherlock Holmes, alas, is out of the
country so, at the suggestion of his brother Mycroft, they turn to the
only man who just might be more brilliant—Dr. James Moriarty. Moriarty,
at the time, is up on charges of murder, awaiting retrial after his
first jury was hung. In exchange for his release and the murder charges
(of which he’s innocent), the so-called“Napoleon of Crime” will use all
his resources to track down the missing prince and find out who is
behind his disappearance and the brutal murders left in his wake. He
soon finds that someone out there is laying a trail, setting up Moriarty
himself to take the fall for the crimes. If the real Moriarty doesn’t
manage to unravel and foil this plot soon, he may never again draw
another free breath.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWy5RikXbaH4mSLDIkFepwRBpn1mzS9q8otUePp_rbtpj5WIbMFGp7A5SGu2PskYhHhsv_FSoB9tCRndPOmO3Rx98gVClrBlLSB-y-Q5W8oS4XvNeq_QbGKyz4X9vNs9xwVUdLAHoKFdg/s1600/fever+tree.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWy5RikXbaH4mSLDIkFepwRBpn1mzS9q8otUePp_rbtpj5WIbMFGp7A5SGu2PskYhHhsv_FSoB9tCRndPOmO3Rx98gVClrBlLSB-y-Q5W8oS4XvNeq_QbGKyz4X9vNs9xwVUdLAHoKFdg/s200/fever+tree.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh (in PB Feb 4<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Frances
Irvine, left destitute in the wake of her father’s sudden death, has
been forced to abandon her life of wealth and privilege in London and
immigrate to the Southern Cape of Africa. 1880 South Africa is a country
torn apart by greed. In this remote and inhospitable land she becomes
entangled with two very different men—one driven by ambition, the other
by his ideals. Only when the rumor of an epidemic takes her into the
dark heart of the diamond mines does Frances see her road to happiness.
But before she can follow that path, Frances must choose between
passion and integrity, between her desire for the man who captured her
heart and her duty to the man who saved her from near ruin, a decision
that will have devastating consequences.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtjgTi_LGlEF017Zh9aMN-HsDCFJ4Ybg8VJojOu0ibO5H_7WZITuHLa6CmeKhhzxjgkdoL_CtCIbv_8VuVZdFMFsamVFQg7LZb4Fg3naxjLLZY9l5v-iwTXC9zWOXAjohBHr62kYvW0k/s200/above+all+things+pb.jpg" width="133" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Above All Things by Tanis Rideout (in PB Feb 4<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In
1924 George Mallory departs on his third expedition to reach the summit
of Mount Everest. Left behind in Cambridge, George’s young wife, Ruth,
along with the rest of a war-ravaged England, anticipates news they hope
will reclaim some of the empire’s faded glory. Through alternating
narratives, what emerges is a beautifully rendered story of love torn
apart by obsession and the need for redemption.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq10LWhBxj8CGrO5GanXbUJhS3hzkMpSK2NeRIbRdtqAF_3sb0dphyu2pNiUr3MtY758DHKi6MAWU48cSSIV9v9mIMWmNgUz5Blsz7AqUqNcGi1mavetFwLnTJ4hetNTrcKp4Gcc8Em3E/s200/i+always+loved+you.jpg" width="133" /></b></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>I Always Loved You by Robin Oliviera (Feb 4<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The
young Mary Cassatt never thought moving to Paris after the Civil War to
be an artist was going to be easy, but when, after a decade of work,
her submission to the Paris Salon is rejected, Mary’s fierce
determination wavers. Her father is begging her to return to
Philadelphia to find a husband before it is too late, her sister Lydia
is falling mysteriously ill, and worse, Mary is beginning to doubt
herself. Then one evening a friend introduces her to Edgar Degas and her
life changes forever. Years later she will learn that he had begged for
the introduction, but in that moment their meeting seems a miracle. So
begins the defining period of her life and the most tempestuous of
relationships.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzPWUuqZr1G2NiW8FLlsEWM7yanjP5uzduqdBdP-iVLW8n6Dkozn9k3oYnM14RNpJJUNuxs2QTYRwPj5oZ117FCbUh2d8dBEffkzlG5SDroc-mXqoT-XYD66jz9Hala4hceUTN660VnU/s200/pioneer+girl.jpg" width="131" /></b></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen (Feb 6<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Jobless
with a PhD, Lee Lien returns home to her Chicago suburb from grad
school, only to find herself contending with issues she’s evaded since
college. But when her brother disappears, he leaves behind an object
from their mother’s Vietnam past that stirs up a forgotten childhood
dream: a gold-leaf brooch, abandoned by an American reporter in Saigon
back in 1965, that might be an heirloom belonging to Laura Ingalls
Wilder. As Lee explores the tenuous facts of this connection, she
unearths more than expected—a trail of clues and enticements that lead
her from the dusty stacks of library archives to hilarious prairie life
reenactments and ultimately to San Francisco, where her findings will
transform strangers’ lives as well as her own.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpJ_C92KQ3CHtacQCoHns30zRaeKKPJ6dsOe95EAssoAQ3iIpc9ixGt-m9eBYztJuRtIkZZwNpDAktTcl4RyQ5VwnGTvWaVd1hTj_dwI9xuNGKzebenibN0CqgXY8nZMv84dt8HFUvKb0/s200/swan+gondola.jpg" width="132" /></b></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Swan Gondola by Timothy Schaffert (Feb 6<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">On
the eve of the 1898 Omaha World’s Fair, Ferret Skerritt, ventriloquist
by trade, con man by birth, isn’t quite sure how it will change him or
his city. Omaha still has the marks of a filthy Wild West town, even as
it attempts to achieve the grandeur and respectability of nearby
Chicago. But when he crosses paths with the beautiful and enigmatic
Cecily, his whole purpose shifts and the fair becomes the backdrop to
their love affair. One of a traveling troupe of actors that has
descended on the city, Cecily works in the Midway’s Chamber of Horrors,
where she loses her head hourly on a guillotine playing Marie
Antoinette. And after closing, she rushes off, clinging protectively to a
mysterious carpetbag, never giving Ferret a second glance. But a
moonlit ride on the swan gondola, a boat on the lagoon of the New White
City, changes everything, and the fair’s magic begins to take its effect<b>.</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDRMpYZAqRi4o2H3vvR1EdWwDDvXIf9ebhhjuGul5lRHvDlbiVLhqbRp2KuA02fNnYtM_Sc4oj6J8jOgPtvzsYzDNC_dfxmEPQN_QkIGmHu4XljyKhC4_PmyQFoK9639iBmnjOIncog6c/s1600/traitors+wife.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDRMpYZAqRi4o2H3vvR1EdWwDDvXIf9ebhhjuGul5lRHvDlbiVLhqbRp2KuA02fNnYtM_Sc4oj6J8jOgPtvzsYzDNC_dfxmEPQN_QkIGmHu4XljyKhC4_PmyQFoK9639iBmnjOIncog6c/s200/traitors+wife.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki (Feb 11<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Everyone
knows Benedict Arnold—the infamous Revolutionary War General who
betrayed America and fled to the British as history’s most notorious
turncoat. Many know Arnold’s co-conspirator, Major John Andre, the
British soldier who was apprehended with Arnold’s secret documents in
his boots and hung at the orders of General George Washington. But few
know the third integral character in the conspiracy: Peggy Shippen
Arnold, the charming, cunning young woman who orchestrated the whole
thing. At seventeen, socialite Peggy seduces the infamous war hero
Arnold with her beauty and wit during his stint as Military Commander of
Philadelphia. Blinded by his young bride’s allure, Arnold does not
realize that she harbors a secret, lifelong loyalty to the British. Nor
does he know that she is hiding a past romance with the handsome British
spy, Major John Andre. Peggy Shippen Arnold watches as her husband,
crippled from a battle wound and in debt from years of service to the
colonies, grows ever more disillusioned with his hero, Washington, and
the American cause. Together with her former lover and her disaffected
husband, Peggy hatches the plot to turn over West Point to the British
and, in exchange, win fame and fortune for herself and Benedict Arnold.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3u35QEKw8pWMXuUpOlNkjD7I8aQ8e6De_nCK9k4kNZgy84pgEDansa5hKcwFRNT_wWPdViiQjjqtHM_PScRvZuc7TKgAfXw0Mg639Xx4aWJp9qjNOUX0AoHSIIqWerzL8xrNDijqQWNc/s200/wake.jpg" width="131" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Wake by Anna Hope (Feb 11<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">November
1920: the body of a soldier with no name begins itsjourney home from
France. Five days later: he is greeted by cheering crowds and bright-red
poppies at the Cenotaph. In the street on Armistice Day are three
women, each overcoming loss in their own way: Hettie, who dances for
sixpence a waltz at the Hammersmith <i>Palais</i>; wealthy Evelyn, who
toils at a lowly job in the pensions office, and Ada, a housewife who
snatches glimpses of her dead son in the street. As each struggles to
move on with her life, a wartime mystery begins to unravel. But where
will the threads lead, and will they bring the answers these women
crave?</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span>
</span></span></span><br />
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywVGqKziAU_NVt_MXoXG6LJNTmHTO-GwNkCpAowpl-wMEa3n0DvHVEeYb1kuqX9ZUpOfZwJH-0m_1oxKrq8Qgi6B2YFU_H1H2Qc7napGmj4ebVxJ-DggbvhI8tDMvf4vuPKEAunj25Lg/s200/girl+on+the+golden+coin.jpg" width="131" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Girl on the Golden Coin: a Novel of France Stuart by Marci Jefferson (Feb 11<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In
1660, the Restoration of Stuart Monarchy in England returns Frances
Stuart and her family to favor. Frances discards threadbare gowns and
goes to gilded Fontainebleau Palace, where she soon catches the Sun
King’s eye. But Frances is no ordinary court beauty—she has Stuart
secrets to keep and her family to protect. King Louis XIV turns vengeful
when she rejects his offer to become his Official Mistress. He sends
her to England with orders to seduce King Charles II and help him form
an alliance with England. The Queen Mother likewise orders Frances to
become her son's mistress, in the interest of luring him away from the
Protestant mistress he currently keeps. Armed in pearls and silk,
Frances maneuvers the political turbulence of Whitehall Palace, but
still can’t afford to stir a scandal, determined to keep her family from
shame. Her tactic to inspire King Charles to greatness captivates him
and the two embark on a tenuous relationship. Frances survives the Great
Fire, the Great Plague, and the debauchery of the Restoration Court,
yet loses her heart to the very king she must control. A startling
discovery will leave her with no other choice but to break his heart,
while the fate of England hangs in the balance.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEChEUVLaOh354jjNk0JyQUBNSP4vtE12sRD8KVc9yExEzTBvERMEbeAqnzclBVTxyjAe9VljefRtHjjf45fdvW74MiW0TP6Kiu3XF__gx_ePDD2teyjkhW8ACAnefvDXbxXw25Ela2g/s1600/museum+of+extraordinary+things.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEChEUVLaOh354jjNk0JyQUBNSP4vtE12sRD8KVc9yExEzTBvERMEbeAqnzclBVTxyjAe9VljefRtHjjf45fdvW74MiW0TP6Kiu3XF__gx_ePDD2teyjkhW8ACAnefvDXbxXw25Ela2g/s200/museum+of+extraordinary+things.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman (Feb 18th)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Coney
Island: Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the impresario behind The
Museum of Extraordinary Things, a boardwalk freak show that amazes and
stimulates the crowds. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the
Mermaid in her father’s “museum,” alongside performers like the Wolfman,
the Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle. One night
Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man photographing moonlit trees
in the woods off the Hudson River. The dashing photographer is Eddie
Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father’s Lower East
Side Orthodox community and his job as an apprentice tailor. When Eddie
captures with his camera the devastation on the streets of New York
following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes
embroiled in the mystery behind a young woman’s disappearance.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMavuTokPk3o9Fd2qBr1j5s2gQ0mLZRC1MmyKbwO2AWxSnaUl54pcsy3jv2XqKZZ7enObSIENbNqJixFS6jY3fjl0VgclJ4Rksf9xTcn1catTygSbUzy1CmZkFZPekPOkPwBIGurwGW4/s200/my+name+is+resolute.jpg" width="131" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>My Name is Resolute by Nancy E. Turner (Feb 18<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The
year is 1729, and Resolute Talbot and her siblings are captured by
pirates, taken from their family in Jamaica, and brought to the New
World. Resolute and her sister are sold into slavery in New England and
taught the trade of spinning and weaving. When Resolute finds herself
alone in Lexington, Massachusetts, she struggles to find her way in a
society that is quick to judge a young woman without a family. As the
seeds of rebellion against England grow, Resolute is torn between
following the rules and breaking free. Resolute’s talent at the loom
places her at the center of an incredible web of secrecy that helped
drive the American Revolution. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span>
</span></span></span><br />
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<b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawsqijSnL5gDFoHlqE2QGnHCcVx-35JQOHLdQQFtMW1Eqj6N0zt0Fq4ubyiAS57O-dQfIkNhf6dLedI33mmk63qlhNB5mZpsJ4zYCuPF3El_lQX6JeXntmjtR_1Gffm3qr1uCTY_X46o/s200/second+summer+of+war.jpg" width="133" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>Second Summer of War by Cheryl Cooper (Feb 18<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">With
the British traitor Captain Thomas Trevelyan incarcerated on a prison
hulk in Portsmouth Harbour, Princess Emeline "Emily" Louisa sails back
to England and is summarily dispatched to Hartwood Hall, home of the
disagreeable Duke and Duchess of Belmont. There she endures weeks
awaiting Trevelyan's trial, unable to leave the estate or find useful
occupation. Relations with her guardians, chilly at best, soon escalate
into a battle of wills when they attempt to marry her off in order to
secure favour with her uncle, the Prince Regent. Meanwhile, England's
naval war with the United States continues to rage on the Atlantic.
When Fly Austen and his friend, Dr. Leander Braden, are given Admiralty
Orders to testify at the trial, they return home with the hope of seeing
Emily one last time. Their journey is anything but uneventful as they
encounter devastating storms, menacing ships, and a spectre that
proclaims their impending doom.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0gbp23uC-7I4t3GAQZt5p6YrfGbiv_CICtVxNyBFslWPaNPBHIlPIkRjj8jdTr3cWFgUCn38STbHQBUfNUA19vOozIXnsrvHdEUTT3T2nJ5vdlTK4ylEVnsWkIhaiNQ8wyyG2XF9Vcg/s200/brotherhood+of+fear.jpg" width="131" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #c00000; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Brotherhood of Fear by Paul Grossman (Feb 18<sup>th</sup>)</span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;">Paris
1933. A refugee with no papers, no legal status, and few resources,
Willi Kraus lives in fear of deportation back to Nazi Germany. His
reputation as a top sleuth however precedes him, and he's soon enlisted
to work as a private eye if-under shady circumstances. Despite his
apparent good fortune he finds himself a stranger in a very strange
land. France is gripped by a fog of disillusionment, anxious about the
tides of fascism rising along her borders. Seduced by a sultry but
troubled French girl and befriended by France's most flamboyant
financier, Willi finds himself unwittingly drawn into a murder mystery
which points towards the highest halls of power. Without a badge,
working alone, he gradually gets the impression he's being led into a
maze. By whom and for what purpose? To escape this web of intrigue he
must learn to navigate not only the grand salons of Paris but her
seediest alleys and darkest canals, her smokiest nightclubs-a landscape
as disorienting as a hall of mirrors, where sex, politics, money and
love are often just tricks of the eye.</span></span></span><span style="color: #c00000; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span> </b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW4wETBxD-PNc97S0M4tYstiqbiMuzVtyW8XxMkXzkN2JeoOfFCcUUM-vEsKGdZK3tHTutCD1TFoNXC_F0xe3_raysOotzu010BXR8P0-lRnsoeBslfkjzOATQFF0Ae3eLkty5d27XAnc/s1600/burnable+book.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW4wETBxD-PNc97S0M4tYstiqbiMuzVtyW8XxMkXzkN2JeoOfFCcUUM-vEsKGdZK3tHTutCD1TFoNXC_F0xe3_raysOotzu010BXR8P0-lRnsoeBslfkjzOATQFF0Ae3eLkty5d27XAnc/s200/burnable+book.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>A Burnable Book by Bruce Holsinger (Feb 18<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">London,
1385. Surrounded by ruthless courtiers including his powerful uncle,
John of Gaunt, and Gaunt's flamboyant mistress, Katherine Swynford,
England's young and untested new king, Richard II, is in mortal
peril-and the danger is only beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Songs
are heard across London-catchy quatrains said to originate from an
ancient book rumored to prophesize the demise of England's
kings-including the assassination of Richard. Few besides the monarch's
allies know that the songs derive from a "burnable book," a seditious
work that threatens the stability of the realm. To find the manuscript,
wily bureaucrat Geoffrey Chaucer turns to poet John Gower, a
professional purveyor of information with far-reaching connections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gower
discovers that the book and incriminating evidence about its author
have fallen into unwitting hands-innocent lives that will be drawn into a
labyrinthine conspiracy that reaches from the king's court to London's
slums and stews. As the intrigue deepens, it becomes clear that Gower, a
man with secrets of his own, may be the last hope to save a king from a
terrible fate.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2XNPVckkFwlrnYXlfa1XhcwRgdHTqFrZ_crvIAeR_U3OW9S3CBK1oRu_RHkp7K3BSJa7CXqY6hS_3pb6yBb0NiYK6n22upJumnPn1nJJAtw-ixQscRveYnM4ox_EI7QXfPtTgbDW3GJ8/s1600/long+man.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2XNPVckkFwlrnYXlfa1XhcwRgdHTqFrZ_crvIAeR_U3OW9S3CBK1oRu_RHkp7K3BSJa7CXqY6hS_3pb6yBb0NiYK6n22upJumnPn1nJJAtw-ixQscRveYnM4ox_EI7QXfPtTgbDW3GJ8/s200/long+man.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Long Man by Amy Greene
(Feb 25<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A
river called Long Man has coursed through East Tennessee from time immemorial,
bringing sustenance to the people who farm along its banks and who trade
between its small towns. But as <i>Long Man</i> opens, the Tennessee
Valley Authority's plans to dam the river and flood the town of Yuneetah for
the sake of progress-to bring electricity and jobs to the hardscrabble
region-are about to take effect. Just one day remains before the river will
rise, and most of the town has been evacuated. Among the holdouts is a young
mother, Annie Clyde Dodson, whose ancestors have lived for generations on her
mountaintop farm; she'll do anything to ensure that her three-year-old
daughter, Gracie, will inherit the family's land. But her husband wants to make
a fresh start in Michigan, where he has found work that will secure the
family's future. As the deadline looms, a storm as powerful as the emotions
between them rages outside their door. Suddenly, they realize that Gracie has
gone missing. Has she simply wandered off into the rain? Or has she been taken
by Amos, the mysterious drifter who has come back to town, perhaps to save it
in a last, desperate act of violence?</span></span></div>
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</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteQVy8ZEeeXCwiXRWCx8eHNk2NKV62e1Kgp_0rMKmR6jR6zGgHMWwn8I-2lQottFe8DZywUvAvLF1lHxLub7cCpron0PfbO6z6Y71G7Z1PpqJ8LjMYcgxydM2t8j295H8IDAFdPiV_MQ/s1600/tyringham+park.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteQVy8ZEeeXCwiXRWCx8eHNk2NKV62e1Kgp_0rMKmR6jR6zGgHMWwn8I-2lQottFe8DZywUvAvLF1lHxLub7cCpron0PfbO6z6Y71G7Z1PpqJ8LjMYcgxydM2t8j295H8IDAFdPiV_MQ/s200/tyringham+park.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Tyringham Park by Rosemary McLoughlin (Feb 25<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Tyringham
Park is the Blackshaws’ magnificent country house in the south of Ireland. It
is a haven of wealth and privilege until its peace is shattered by a
devastating event which reveals the chaos of jealousy and deceit beneath its
surface. Charlotte Blackshaw is only eight years old when her little sister
Victoria goes missing from the estate. Charlotte is left to struggle with her
loss without any support from her hostile mother and menacing nanny. It is
obvious to Charlotte that both of them wish she had been the one to go missing
rather than pretty little Victoria. Charlotte finds comfort in the kindness of
servants. With their help she seeks an escape from the burden of being the
unattractive one left behind. Despite her mother’s opposition, she later reaches out for happiness and
believes the past can no longer hurt her.
But the mystery of Victoria’s disappearance continues to cast a long
shadow over Tyringham Park - a mystery that may still have the power to destroy
its world and the world of all those connected to it.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeQPzRmOL3Ssg4mKcIho3ckdOcjkK7lRkdygfEjeb46jY5nH062blI7v5TCw1hvecqw52TtzP1PrHmW9ak6OrYMgr0SXAHQl8UIAvzPPpaChXmDAErfkKmLG-5f8RtKdjp6MkTe8Bdprk/s200/daring+ladies+of+lowell.jpg" width="134" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott (Feb 25<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A
young farm girl named Alice, hungry for independence, strikes out to
take her chances working as a spinner in the cotton mills of Lowell in
the 1830s. The brutal murder of another mill girl sweeps her up into a
passionate attempt to find justice for her friend. It also draws her
into the life and heart of the mill owner’s son, opening a window into a
wealthy world Alice has never experienced. Scandal erupts when an
evangelical preacher is charged with the murder. The ensuing trial pits
the mill owners – desperate to keep their reputation as protectors of
the young women keeping their mills operating – against religious
leaders who defend the preacher, fearing for their own reputations. In
the midst of this, labor unrest at the mill is growing, and the town of
Lowell is in ferment. And Alice – when the verdict finally comes in -
must make an agonizing choice that will change her life. </span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhC9ceUP94a6aO9Ygn-HJRMCjNjnBZKoaO-V8VsnzgikRSUxFKx5TBkwsmZ0YGdlGQbgFRyXoNdDXmC8y-b_hVr3F4YqQvy-VK-hSQsgoNQ8aeWXgPXXJZNzCbsoWkCgjdcMKxeT7_b-8/s200/vienna+nocturne.jpg" width="133" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Vienna Nocturne by Vivien Shotwell (Feb 25<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>Vienna Nocturne</i>
tells the story of the turbulent life and brilliantly successful career
of young British opera singer Anna Storace, a child prodigy who is
taken by her parents to Italy at age thirteen to advance her career. In
love with life and wildly ambitious, Anna wants everything-to be famous,
to be loved-and this leads her to make some fatal choices. We watch her
turn from a carefree young girl to a passionate young woman, and it is
during this transformation that her affair with Mozart blossoms. The
story of their love, no less powerful for being forbidden, is
reminiscent of the passionate thwarted romances described in <i>Loving Frank</i> and <i>Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet</i>. Written in melodious prose by a young author studying opera at Yale, <i>Vienna Nocturne</i>
is a dramatic story of a woman's battle to find love and fame in an
eighteenth-century world that controls and limits her at every turn.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Jacob’s Folly by Rebecca Miller (in PB Feb 25<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">In
eighteenth-century Paris, Jacob Cerf is a Jew, a peddler of knives,
saltcellars, and snuffboxes. Despite a disastrous teenage marriage, he
is determined to raise himself up in life, by whatever means he can.
More than two hundred years later, Jacob is amazed to find himself
reincarnated as a fly in the Long Island suburbs of twenty-first-century
America, his new life twisted in ways he could never have imagined. But
even the tiniest of insects can influence the turning of the world, and
thanks to his arrival, the lives of a reliable volunteer fireman and a
young Orthodox Jewish woman nursing a secret ambition will never be the
same.</span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0K14kJ45eTl9SXmnQCqGjT5Q7NZHVGS3J-6yd3OsG3NvSYqEsQqGsaCskNGOjRy3w0PEagFWXNHm-7THTdcqh55nqwGBIzfRtIsI7-PCXrgruXs-azpXMZKxJI5boKibIjyKCKZR0-Y/s200/madam.jpg" width="132" /></b></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>Madam: A Novel of New Orleans by Cari Lynn and Kellie Martin (Feb 25<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">New
Orleans, 1897. Mary Deubler makes a meager living on Venus Alley, the
illegal red light district. That all changes when bible-thumping
Alderman Sidney Story forces the creation of a legalized district of
vice that’s mockingly dubbed “Storyville” in his honor. Despite her
looks and intelligence, Mary doesn’t think she can make it on Basin
Street, where girls turn tricks in plush, velvet wallpapered bordellos.
But thanks to gumption, twists of fate, even a touch of voodoo, Mary
rises above her hopeless lot to become the notorious Madam Josie
Arlington.</span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZovZTd1Nq_DwrPk0sMO7e102TQK_AE8U4EJtftWsyIURAIeQqAf_FCa9vbyPEdLW1NYYITpgj30llx9JVSBaAkoWrWCiTMHv2iJHpLFZB9fi_Eq6olvlkeGZPXzCLWINMLXwPSrjG3t8/s200/raiders+of+the+nile.jpg" width="131" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Raiders of the Nile by Steven Saylor (Feb 25<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In
88 B.C. it seems as if all the world is at war. From Rome to Greece and
to Egypt itself, most of civilization is on the verge of war. The young
Gordianus—a born-and-raised Roman citizen—is living in Alexandria,
making ends meet by plying his trade of solving puzzles and finding
things out for pay. He whiles away his time with his slave Bethesda,
waiting for the world to regain its sanity. But on the day Gordianus
turns twenty-two, Bethesda is kidnapped by brigands who mistake her for a
rich man’s mistress. If Gordianus is to find and save Bethesda, who has
come to mean more to him than even he suspected, he must find the
kidnappers before they realize their mistake and cut their losses. Using
all the skills he learned from his father, Gordianus must track them
down and convince them that he can offer something of enough value in
exchange for Bethesda’s release. As the streets of Alexandria slowly
descend into chaos, and the citizenry begin to riot with rumors of an
impending invasion by Ptolmey’s brother, Gordianus finds himself in the
midst of a very bold and dangerous plot—the raiding and pillaging of the
golden sarcophagus of Alexander the Great himself.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_6ojwgwKkOtQpv2cthasqsWefzqOPK0y60ZmaE7ZPj7CfCw3TQ0WFkr65R144hHFBE7o9PI-ZVqit67cs99zCjlX9os_UiY61vAokd-u9YiVgmuVJKsM7xzxmKMN6jUMg6f47GUtb1o/s1600/harem+midwife.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_6ojwgwKkOtQpv2cthasqsWefzqOPK0y60ZmaE7ZPj7CfCw3TQ0WFkr65R144hHFBE7o9PI-ZVqit67cs99zCjlX9os_UiY61vAokd-u9YiVgmuVJKsM7xzxmKMN6jUMg6f47GUtb1o/s200/harem+midwife.jpg" width="123" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The
Harem Midwife by Roberta Rich (Feb 25<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the
opulent palace of the feared and revered Sultan Murat III, Hannah Levi, midwife
to the Sultan's vast harem, is forced to deliver heirs to the kingdom. If she
fails, the entire Ottoman Empire will collapse, but the woman who has been
chosen to be the Sultan's mistress is not all she seems. And when a mysterious
woman turns up on her doorstep, claiming to be her late brother's bride, Hannah
must find the courage to defend herself - both against the threat of the Sultan
and the widow-imposter - or lose everything she has ever loved...</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLrr9nLtIHpLKDqgQIRJ-PIj5bwk0qZZyQGN_WDf-WnC6eCeNAFRiMo8vYoVO5Pv6mD2D3HiNpLf7_IDClKvMEtJwthJktWKqyoHQf-W_MGcORFI5C1rYyZvuuS-6E00dn0UoCbaBenDA/s1600/wives+of+los+alamos.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLrr9nLtIHpLKDqgQIRJ-PIj5bwk0qZZyQGN_WDf-WnC6eCeNAFRiMo8vYoVO5Pv6mD2D3HiNpLf7_IDClKvMEtJwthJktWKqyoHQf-W_MGcORFI5C1rYyZvuuS-6E00dn0UoCbaBenDA/s200/wives+of+los+alamos.jpg" width="135" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Wives of Los Alamos
by TaraShea Nesbitt (Feb 25<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Their
average age was twenty-five. They came from Berkeley, Cambridge, Paris, London,
Chicago—and arrived in New Mexico ready for adventure, or at least resigned to
it. But hope quickly turned to hardship as they were forced to adapt to a
rugged military town where everything was a secret, including what their
husbands were doing at the lab. They lived in barely finished houses with P.O.
box addresses in a town wreathed with barbed wire, all for the benefit of a
project that didn’t exist as far as the public knew. Though they were
strangers, they joined together—adapting to a landscape as fierce as it was
absorbing, full of the banalities of everyday life and the drama of scientific
discovery. And while the bomb was being invented, babies were born, friendships
were forged, children grew up, and Los Alamos gradually transformed from an
abandoned school on a hill into a real community: one that was strained by the
words they couldn’t say out loud, the letters they couldn’t send home, the
freedom they didn’t have. But the end of the war would bring even bigger
challenges to the people of Los Alamos, as the scientists and their families
struggled with the burden of their contribution to the most destructive force
in the history of mankind.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJjr4vV5onwhFP9-udZ3_w4TizGORDVeUUfB5JNUSeqWh46Nf_AtmottAdVA5i4zam9ezmRtSCj2g46kS6F-Ox4FwGGhzSXky-I2Mt9WYyjgGMljOcetXCFQ7ykveKNl27v5iQX3u8_M/s1600/boleyn+bride.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJjr4vV5onwhFP9-udZ3_w4TizGORDVeUUfB5JNUSeqWh46Nf_AtmottAdVA5i4zam9ezmRtSCj2g46kS6F-Ox4FwGGhzSXky-I2Mt9WYyjgGMljOcetXCFQ7ykveKNl27v5iQX3u8_M/s200/boleyn+bride.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Boleyn Bride by Brandy
Purdy (Feb 25<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">At
sixteen, Elizabeth Howard envisions a glorious life for herself as
lady-in-waiting to the future queen, Catherine of Aragon. But when she is
forced to marry Thomas Boleyn, a wealthy commoner, Elizabeth is left to
stagnate in the countryside while her detested husband pursues his ambitions.
There, she raises golden girl Mary, moody George, and ugly duckling Anne—while
staving off boredom with a string of admirers. Until Henry VIII takes the
throne. . . When Thomas finally brings
his highborn wife to London, Elizabeth indulges in lavish diversions and
dalliances—and catches the lusty king's eye. But those who enjoy Henry's fickle
favor must also guard against his wrath. For while her husband's machinations
bring Elizabeth and her children to the pinnacle of power, the distance to the
scaffold is but a short one—and the Boleyn family's fortune may be turning. . .</span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKpLmHa5tWt_NHWGo2qhPxanaGGQG8wVvd4V5rS2FtrAvcuAkp9KcPx3LaeoWZ3FJyDtlY9xsxltCrehN0eSDxMQQ5GzmgxN3qEjv-10x_EnAoU6sQAV7MtoA5Uy94YL97YTcU-aGrnSA/s200/heretics.jpg" width="128" /></b></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Heretics by Rory Clements (UK Release Feb 28<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">England
may have survived the Armada threat of 1588, but when Spanish galleys
land troops in Cornwall on a lightning raid seven years later, is it a
dry-run for a new invasion? Revenge for the sacking of Spanish shipping
and ports? A warning shot to Drake and Hawkins? Or is there, perhaps, a
more sinister motive? The Queen is speechless with rage at Spain's
temerity. Sir Robert Cecil demands answers. But as John Shakespeare
tries to get a grip on events, England's secret defences begin to
unravel as one by one his network of spies is horribly murdered. But
what has all this to do with Thomasyn Jade, a girl driven to the edge of
madness by the foul rituals of exorcism? And what is the link to a
group of priests held prisoner in the bleak confines of Wisbech Castle?
From the pain-wracked torture rooms of the Inquisition in Seville to the
marshy wastes of fenland, from the wild coasts of Cornwall to the sweat
and sawdust of the Elizabethan playhouses, and from the condemned cell
at Newgate to the devilish stench of brimstone and fear as demons are
driven out by unspeakable means, THE HERETICS builds to a terrifying
climax that threatens the life of the Queen herself.</span></span></span></span></span>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-89002918768943182082013-11-21T10:00:00.000-05:002013-11-22T00:00:59.906-05:00January Historical Fiction Preview<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_zgbImRICZpxi5Mbn8xB54um4LGzb7mT0aAz9KnElEcVs52_PqS3uhoOamt3ms_PjiFi6lhxC_Cn4ZMQBzEXe6pexfWNalLtZlSPL86-oL0xtOY6Rk0eu1N_ABXewrK6fEGw9sHbYr_8/s200/cross+of+vengeance.jpg" width="133" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Cross of Vengeance by Cora Harrison (Jan 1<sup>st</sup>)</span> </b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">September,
1517: when fire destroys the famous relic of the Holy Cross in Kilnaboy
church and then a pilgrim is found murdered, it is up to Mara, as
Brehon of the Burren, and her law students, to find out who did such a
thing - and why.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqfbMS4jhLUbbE975N2SskqeDUO9PFGIAdaMZ6LZR39X4sVJxzC_lvX117frHk7GtmmdBJHb5MnDVdHnX55vgOGIvlZ569ATpvyGAlIsLTU_ErvNQ16brkmoUA6JSwaIBWvWxwNDR23xE/s1600/shadow+on+the+crown+pb.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqfbMS4jhLUbbE975N2SskqeDUO9PFGIAdaMZ6LZR39X4sVJxzC_lvX117frHk7GtmmdBJHb5MnDVdHnX55vgOGIvlZ569ATpvyGAlIsLTU_ErvNQ16brkmoUA6JSwaIBWvWxwNDR23xE/s200/shadow+on+the+crown+pb.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;">
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell
(in PB Jan 2nd)</span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In 1002, fifteen-year-old Emma of Normandy crosses the
Narrow Sea to wed the much older King Athelred of England, whom she meets for
the first time at the church door. Thrust into an unfamiliar and treacherous
court, with a husband who mistrusts her, stepsons who resent her and a
bewitching rival who covets her crown, Emma must defend herself against her
enemies and secure her status as queen by bearing a son. Determined to outmaneuver her adversaries,
Emma forges alliances with influential men at court and wins the affection of
the English people. But her growing love for a man who is not her husband and
the imminent threat of a Viking invasion jeopardize both her crown and her
life.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqbSagxfqs8EoFV0UvsSc_h5mgedZkqWEw_jtMlq8GTDpdGgWJYSLDJiCWVgOUOlMtGbMCiQIsFDwHUV2vpbTngyAMOKVUA36752kOXEnqPA35TZR4hTNzGw91wbxqaWNyJS1ieMCPWE/s1600/great+king.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqbSagxfqs8EoFV0UvsSc_h5mgedZkqWEw_jtMlq8GTDpdGgWJYSLDJiCWVgOUOlMtGbMCiQIsFDwHUV2vpbTngyAMOKVUA36752kOXEnqPA35TZR4hTNzGw91wbxqaWNyJS1ieMCPWE/s200/great+king.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">The Great King by Christian Cameron (Jan 2nd)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Close your eyes and you could be in fifth-century Egypt.
With his trademark ability to step into the shoes of his fifth-century
protagonists, once again Christian Cameron plunges us headlong into the thick
of the action. This time, the indomitable Arimnestos of Plataea finds himself
caught up in the ill-fated Spartan expedition to the land of the Sphinx, while
on the horizon, forces gather for the colossal naval battle of Artemesium.
Whether it's in the unforgiving furnace of the Egyptian desert or the
blood-frothed seas off the coast of Greece, Christian Cameron brings these
momentous events to thrilling life as we watch the epic story unfold.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwTgvJO7iCmgX9070XBZcUx4D48lM9cgVhGLxxbdBf1-cQfqF5J-o7volYBO275FD_8ZovozlT2oGKv1rE-Rv2ewwHgX5v0BRwa9rVlsrblMHYWvp5usFzcDgPOR5sNYbmgqlBsQZd5bQ/s1600/royal+succession.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwTgvJO7iCmgX9070XBZcUx4D48lM9cgVhGLxxbdBf1-cQfqF5J-o7volYBO275FD_8ZovozlT2oGKv1rE-Rv2ewwHgX5v0BRwa9rVlsrblMHYWvp5usFzcDgPOR5sNYbmgqlBsQZd5bQ/s200/royal+succession.jpg" width="124" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Royal Succession by
Maurice Druon (Jan 2<sup>nd</sup>)</span></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">'No
woman shall succeed in Salique land' Louis X is dead, poisoned, murdered, by
the hand of Mahaut d'Artois. Her plan is simple - to clear the path to the
throne for her son-in-law Philippe. However, there is the small matter of Queen
Clemence and her unborn child. As the country is thrown into turmoil, Philippe
of Poitiers must use any means necessary to save his country from anarchy.
However, how far is he willing to go to clear his path to the throne and become
King in his own right?</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidD0Geb_h8SvD-2d4vHSEFzBO9GcLhVYfeM_QQ92WFKgMsnJAzQStafWrE4DCyiUI9uNHUYAWfAxWOriRQiWIx4Ls_Q4J2zBu3U33rjh2_15GtXEdiQcP9gi33MrKSNmRS2_4UjzNat1o/s1600/kept.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidD0Geb_h8SvD-2d4vHSEFzBO9GcLhVYfeM_QQ92WFKgMsnJAzQStafWrE4DCyiUI9uNHUYAWfAxWOriRQiWIx4Ls_Q4J2zBu3U33rjh2_15GtXEdiQcP9gi33MrKSNmRS2_4UjzNat1o/s200/kept.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Kept by James Scott
(Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In
the winter of 1897, a trio of killers descends upon an isolated farm in upstate
New York. Midwife Elspeth Howell returns home to the carnage: her husband, and
four of her children, murdered. Before she can discover her remaining son
Caleb, alive and hiding in the kitchen pantry, another shot rings out over the
snow-covered valley. Twelve-year-old Caleb must tend to his mother until she
recovers enough for them to take to the frozen wilderness in search of the men
responsible.</span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHY64zE9U-x6cqyWFCZ27ADf_2U2RIcPvE0-3e7DWP6Dp7P90udntv_AFr5eLJ54gAdDRTvmW1JbdcQ2AWlPXaQRSDC1lhRPHVWTlZzi4t59JO9UQOoF0wjLWJe4dM9HnqjKMvCsvG3lo/s200/she+shall+be+praised.jpg" width="130" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>She Shall be Praised: A Women of Hope novel by Ginny Aiken (Jan 7th)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">When
socialite Emma Crowell stops the carriage on the way to Portland to
'exercise' her fussy poodle, she does not expect to become stranded in
the woods in decidedly unsuitable attire. The pair of men who find her
decide to take her back to their cave, where they've hidden sheep they
rustled from a nearby rancher. The rancher turns out to be Peter Lowery,
and he arrives, furious, to retrieve his property. But when he
discovers Emma, he does the Christian thing and brings her, her dog, and
the thieves back to his cabin. Peter may have to shelter the motley
group, but he expects them to earn their keep until he can take them to
Bountiful, the nearest town. Emma suddenly finds herself in charge of
the house and the care of Peter's imaginative young son Robby. She's
surprised to find that she enjoys the challenges of life at the cabin,
and feels drawn to Peter. But though willing to learn, no matter how she
tries, she can never seem to live up to expectations. As she seeks
God's guidance, she faces the picture of womanhood shown by the lady in
the 31st chapter of Proverbs. Between that picture and the one of
Peter's late wife, Emma must decide who she has been, who she is, and
who she really wants to be. What is to be her worth as a woman? What is
to be her legacy?</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
</span></span></span><br />
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieq-9aEmKsRdzhHAHyLWz0ZJt33OdZ4Q3KyYQsbCBzhWz718WLeh8ISYVkToujb6iUB4J6YeGvHXR_BlKo3paHa6YXl4qMGJpg5n6JIuRc0bsca-XU_NbvHBZ-ya072RDS_huFzRi2xsM/s200/colour+of+milk.jpg" width="132" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Colour of Milk by Nell Leyshon (in PB Jan 7th)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Mary,
the spirited youngest daughter of an angry, violent man, is sent to
work for the local vicar and his invalid wife. Her strange new
surroundings offer unsettling challenges, including the vicar’s
lecherous son and a manipulative fellow servant. But life in the
vicarage also offers unexpected joys, as the curious young girl learns
to read and write—knowledge that will come at a tragic price.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQhXvyf6FX6o3G9bSYLG4VA40al0s_sEGVRcYtIUXG4JJ8XJQB84wEqgXweyUK2xCld8idtZFVSL6qns98wTvI5Nsa0daWV1S9-gaEQXKSOTZadoMZG9a5lIKvTlSzRhg6RPncyIhKZAI/s200/cover+not+available.png" width="132" /></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Life after Life by Kate Atkinson (in PB Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">On
a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born to an English
banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On
that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty
wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual.
For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in a variety of ways, while
the young century marches on towards its second cataclysmic world war.
Does Ursula's apparently infinite number of lives give her the power to
save the world from its inevitable destiny? And if she can -- will
she?</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPiFHswdMl7H4Uyx9-i7w5_ebC81-DLqCSyBcrhS8ko63xYqs02wlRopI21TDF9xq0RxDsqgQsB2sLVjpGscECdQrBGu7t2rpG_Qx98qqMUOUNpdVZzh0xBZcOYLKmlEP_9-QJPPphyphenhyphen4U/s200/bella+cora.jpg" width="131" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Belle Cora by Philip Margulies (Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Some
people remember her as Arabella Godwin, others as Harriet Knowles, and
still more as Frances Andersen or other names too numerous to list. But
let there be no confusion, this is the legendary story of Belle Cora
(1828-1919), who survived by her wits and made a fortune off the greed
and lust of men. Orphaned at age nine, Belle and her brother, Lewis, are
sent to live with their devoutly religious aunt and uncle in rural
upstate New York. Nothing can prepare her for the cruelty of her
watchful, jealous cousin Agnes, who would become a lifelong rival and
enemy. Yet there, Belle also meets the love of her life, Jeptha Talbot.
As she blossoms into a true beauty, however, two horrendous events
separate her from Jeptha and Lewis. Heartbroken, Belle flees the
countryside and finds work in a mill, where she is exposed to the looser
morals of hard luck women and begins to harden into the powerful,
cunning woman she will become. Soon Belle finds herself in New York,
where life takes a dark but alluring turn as she succumbs to the
indulgent lifestyle of a highly sought-after prostitute to the city's
wealthiest men. But beneath the silk and taffeta layers, she harbors a
deep longing to be reunited with Jeptha, now a respected preacher. The
road back to him will take her on a treacherous journey from the town
houses of Manhattan to the dusty streets of San Francisco at the height
of the Gold Rush. It's a road of good intentions, but paved with secrets
and lies on which the conniving, sometimes ruthless Belle must
transform herself again and again to get what she wants.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> <span style="color: #cc0000;"><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoK9ZvR5b4CtUNVyM3DwizYyBtrt4fcgbQu6iMqzCWxItukdWQuMgF7DNgzvLYPXCiFvfZJPNmx4HZBEsuofZ04yw31caBarVnTodYBEIAe0r6BGYpx19OXeV-7ZHdXfZ1FxqlzCnhDkk/s1600/rebellion.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoK9ZvR5b4CtUNVyM3DwizYyBtrt4fcgbQu6iMqzCWxItukdWQuMgF7DNgzvLYPXCiFvfZJPNmx4HZBEsuofZ04yw31caBarVnTodYBEIAe0r6BGYpx19OXeV-7ZHdXfZ1FxqlzCnhDkk/s200/rebellion.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Rebellion: A Thriller in Napoleon's Paris by James McGee (Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">October
1812: Britain and France are still at war. France is engaged on two
battle fronts—Spain and Russia—and her civilians are growing weary of
the fight. Rebellion is brewing. Since Napoleon Bonaparte appointed
himself as First Consul, there have been several attempts to either kill
or overthrow him. All have failed, so far! Meanwhile in London, Bow
Street Runner Matthew Hawkwood has been seconded to the foreign arm of
the Secret Service. There, he meets the urbane Henry Brooke, who tells
him he's to join a colleague in Paris on a special mission. Brooke's
agent has come up with a daring plan and he needs Hawkwood's help to put
it into action. If the plan is successful it could lead to a negotiated
peace treaty between France and the allies. Failure would mean prison,
torture and a meeting with the guillotine.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIx37CF28PnjZsSyRwyMFKswZeVIgW7VPzm7EKxRyLg_GrEz_t_JLa7blahAcHadOiYQCQnEZG44H0swIVUJhyphenhyphenY85B-fxpwZACgQLrq9j2ouoP5DiRUBfeg71a57cpi8T6EBSrnljqak/s1600/frances+and+bernard.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIx37CF28PnjZsSyRwyMFKswZeVIgW7VPzm7EKxRyLg_GrEz_t_JLa7blahAcHadOiYQCQnEZG44H0swIVUJhyphenhyphenY85B-fxpwZACgQLrq9j2ouoP5DiRUBfeg71a57cpi8T6EBSrnljqak/s200/frances+and+bernard.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Frances and Bernard by Carlene Bauer (in PB Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In
the summer of 1957, Frances and Bernard meet at an artists' colony. She
finds him faintly ridiculous, but talented. He sees her as aloof, but
intriguing. Afterward, he writes her a letter. Soon they are immersed in
the kind of fast, deep friendship that can take over-and change the
course of-our lives. From points afar, they find their way to New York
and, for a few whirling years, each other. The city is a wonderland for
young people with dreams: cramped West Village kitchens, rowdy cocktail
parties stocked with the sharp-witted and glamorous, taxis that can
take you anywhere at all, long talks along the Hudson River as the
lights of the Empire State Building blink on above. Inspired by the
lives of Flannery O'Connor and Robert Lowell, Frances and Bernard
imagines, through new characters with charms entirely their own, what
else might have happened. It explores the limits of faith, passion,
sanity, what it means to be a true friend, and the nature of acceptable
sacrifice. In the grandness of the fall, can we love another person so
completely that we lose ourselves? How much should we give up for those
we love? How do we honor the gifts our loved ones bring and still keep
true to our dreams?</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5qtxRJN_uKe5hMzKw2J2B0akdIVEoxXkm-bQJcSHWOfPUczcJsAUzk8wjFvWoT3flfPBOtj_gcWhgh-XxKbICndeQ18lhNuzke5wUJvFrJr0jyc2QJswSTf0pORvMlmm4nXztiqc1xP8/s1600/descent.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5qtxRJN_uKe5hMzKw2J2B0akdIVEoxXkm-bQJcSHWOfPUczcJsAUzk8wjFvWoT3flfPBOtj_gcWhgh-XxKbICndeQ18lhNuzke5wUJvFrJr0jyc2QJswSTf0pORvMlmm4nXztiqc1xP8/s200/descent.jpg" width="129" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Descent: Book Three of the Taker Trilogy by Alma Katsu (in PB Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Lanore
McIlvrae has been on the run from Adair for hundreds of years, dismayed
by his mysterious powers and afraid of his temper. She betrayed Adair’s
trust and imprisoned him behind a stone wall to save Jonathan, the love
of her life. When Adair was freed 200 years later, she was sure that he
would find her and make her existence a living hell. But things turned
out far different than she’d imagined. Four years later, Lanore has
tracked Adair to his mystical island home, where he has been living in
self-imposed exile, to ask for a favor. She wants Adair to send her to
the hereafter so she may beg the Queen of the Underworld to release
Jonathan, whom she has been keeping as her consort. Will Lanore honor
her promise to Adair to return? Or is her intention to reunite with
Jonathan at any cost?</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7NU79NIZiFt3BwVUmt4VAHZXMBVGtYrP4_QOn1X0ynpmrdSssZjsNsiK1prPsx4e1jb3XDl6r56EFIq7ZWv2EzTV829OP60Ng3qW5kzks-6Gaxrmy0ruDv-qIvX8AMVfh1IzQn543gxM/s1600/warrior+of+the+west.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7NU79NIZiFt3BwVUmt4VAHZXMBVGtYrP4_QOn1X0ynpmrdSssZjsNsiK1prPsx4e1jb3XDl6r56EFIq7ZWv2EzTV829OP60Ng3qW5kzks-6Gaxrmy0ruDv-qIvX8AMVfh1IzQn543gxM/s200/warrior+of+the+west.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The King Arthur Trilogy Book 2: Warrior of the West by M.K. Hume (Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Twelve
long, blood-soaked years, have passed since Artor fulfilled his destiny
and was crowned the High King of the Britons. Against all odds, Artor
has united Celtic Britain and with a last great campaign, has banished
the Saxon scourge. The legend of Camlann has begun. But even as Artor's
kingdom is at its zenith, even as he has succeeded in conquering all
external threats to his rule, his kingdom is being undermined from
within. Not only is Artor betrayed by the one person he should be able
to trust, he has also learned of appalling perversion at the heart of
his kingdom. He must make a terrible choice. Does he commit a deed that
leaves him open to comparison with the despotic Uther Pendragon, or does
he let evil go unchecked? The burden of leadership, of power, now rests
solely - and heavily - on Artor's shoulders for Myrddion Merlinus,
master tactician, guiding light for so many years, has left Artor to his
fate. Could all that Artor has fought for, the destiny of Britain, be
lost? Will Britain be torn apart?</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYa2kycJVWQ5BknIln1nicbZ81GVu2rQ2jhSrAyTYjjd8QMpBF9ZZfPYQ-9-DQh2yFtC_h4df-ByhzwfBJ0doa2doAaTB3nyPCOv_PmWVputTHvuXtWOQkj0tlaD4lFjP6H1x-n0FJoOo/s1600/scent+of+pine.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYa2kycJVWQ5BknIln1nicbZ81GVu2rQ2jhSrAyTYjjd8QMpBF9ZZfPYQ-9-DQh2yFtC_h4df-ByhzwfBJ0doa2doAaTB3nyPCOv_PmWVputTHvuXtWOQkj0tlaD4lFjP6H1x-n0FJoOo/s200/scent+of+pine.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>The Scent of Pine by Lara Vapnyar (Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Though only
thirty-eight, Lena finds herself in the grips of a midlife crisis. She
feels lost in her adoptive country, her career is at a dead end, and her
marriage has tumbled into a spiral of apathy and distrust—it seems
impossible she will ever find happiness again. But then she strikes up a
precarious friendship with Ben, a failed artist turned reluctant
academic, who is just as lost as she is. They soon surprise themselves
by embarking on an impulsive weekend adventure, uncharacteristically
leaving their middle-aged responsibilities behind. On the way to Ben’s
remote cabin in Maine, Lena begins to talk, for the first time in her
life, about the tumultuous summer she spent as a counselor in a Soviet
children’s camp twenty years earlier, when she was just discovering
romance and her own sexuality. At a time when Russia itself was in
turmoil, the once-placid world of the camp was equally unsettled, with
unexplained disappearances and mysterious goings-on among the staff;
Lena and her friend Inka were haunted by what they witnessed, or failed
to witness, and by the fallout from those youthful relationships. As
Lena opens up to Ben about secrets she has long kept hidden, they begin
to discover together not only the striking truths buried in her puzzling
past, but also more immediate, passionate truths about the urgency of
this short, stolen time they have together.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-YoXJ6TzAoVtfa6Y7nn59TIYl1MKf_tbiXEMvOl07UYh9c86BcEmfWEAYtHqG5ZtQMlccz_Z1mmTpntMzjGZpWrdiohk6uHTOc69OPdc5uMlSH-lrTuMzZGN9Sy8OfofIu2GoMzhOnv4/s1600/house+of+bathory.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-YoXJ6TzAoVtfa6Y7nn59TIYl1MKf_tbiXEMvOl07UYh9c86BcEmfWEAYtHqG5ZtQMlccz_Z1mmTpntMzjGZpWrdiohk6uHTOc69OPdc5uMlSH-lrTuMzZGN9Sy8OfofIu2GoMzhOnv4/s200/house+of+bathory.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>House of Bathory by Linda Lafferty (Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;">In the early 1600s, Elizabeth Báthory, the infamous Blood Countess, ruled Čachtice
Castle in the hinterlands of Slovakia. During bizarre nightly rites,
she tortured and killed the young women she had taken on as servants. A
devil, a demon, the terror of Royal Hungary—she bathed in their blood to
preserve her own youth. 400 years later, echoes of the
Countess’s legendary brutality reach Aspen, Colorado. Betsy Path, a
psychoanalyst of uncommon intuition, has a breakthrough with sullen
teenager Daisy Hart. Together, they are haunted by the past, as they
struggle to understand its imprint upon the present. Betsy and her
troubled but perceptive patient learn the truth: the curse of the House
of Bathory lives still and has the power to do evil even now. The story,
brimming with palace intrigue, memorable characters intimately
realized, and a wealth of evocative detail, travels back and forth
between the familiar, modern world and a seventeenth-century Eastern
Europe brought startlingly to life. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixfuv1mpdQEjsZyJewUoxUGFIOF9SOr3z-ScvlFoD5HZD__Ojby3PcK14hNRNbL1Av08uCBgR9zzRWGewDMH14YkOlKVgF02nhYUo_vwPgDehVBDIzjLI8ABa-6Ew206KT9aHNOXeVbY4/s200/two+mrs+abbotts.jpg" width="131" /></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson (Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The third book in D.E. Stevenson's beloved Miss Buncle series, <i>The Two Mrs. Abbotts</i>
takes us back to the delightful English town of Wandlebury, where
Barbara Abbott (formerly Buncle) has her hands full raising two children
in the midst of World War II along with keeping an eye on her niece,
Jerry Abbott. Of course, Barbara isn't too busy to observe her
neighbors' lives, and her curiosity and tendency toward matchmaking
leads her into some sticky situations. Readers will enjoy the new
characters and hilarious social situations in the latest Buncle
adventure.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPtx84UanbegbVofG6aCnVT0MzdVbaWPTQtthsTxASMABKWIJ3cT1pzRlL9LezHcrtBkVQQkntlRmlju59NH1Cc_-p0_CLyhYfX9JUFGT41xyH3nekf5GRDpp2T-obdycbgrn1-lgiRfI/s200/lion+and+the+rose.jpg" width="133" /></b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Lion and the Rose by Kate Quinn (Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">As
the cherished concubine of the Borgia Pope Alexander VI, Giulia Farnese
has Rome at her feet. But after narrowly escaping a sinister captor,
she realizes that the danger she faces is far from over—and now, it
threatens from within. The Holy City of Rome is still under Alexander’s
thrall, but enemies of the Borgias are starting to circle. In need of
trusted allies, Giulia turns to her sharp-tongued bodyguard, Leonello,
and her fiery cook and confidante, Carmelina. Caught in the deadly
world of the Renaissance’s most notorious family, Giulia, Leonello, and
Carmelina must decide if they will flee the dangerous dream of power.
But as the shadows of murder and corruption rise through the Vatican,
they must learn who to trust when every face wears a mask . . .</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFUiQTZQUmXCx-Kqk55jHLqtVjSVnjMa5UmSNFIQj_0XNim_spRIIZbZSxxYhXQj3XjMvQWfGe48hhc52tl1DTZZHh5pheQ5-ILNDsYKqN5I-DnTnTP7_bssNfbyS1VuPpC9BrMhAc1xA/s200/scent+of+butterflies.jpg" width="131" /></b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>Scent of Butterflies by Dora Levy Mossanen (Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Soraya
flies to America from Iran to plot revenge against her husband and her
best friend who have betrayed her in the cruelest possible way. Against
the backdrop of momentous historical events in Iran, we follow Soraya to
Bel Air where she creates a haven for her butterfly obsession. When
Soraya lures her friend to town, she arrives with Soraya's husband in
tow. The unexpected secret they reveal to Soraya is far more devastating
than anything she had imagined, threatening to further unhinge her. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXCNS0J87oOzrViQnkxlcGJYLIk2CE9bm9iAryERRaIKsWJbUPqWtBwbVK9mvGalwkeHVD_0iLVjKBL0u92sRnbl2Ixn8HjAsp67rAmpw4k4SC96mI2ikyGfjmE-JGS9KOxEyFXvjQkEs/s200/wind+is+not+a+river.jpg" width="132" /></b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Wind is not a River by Brian Payton (Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Following
the death of his younger brother in Europe, journalist John Easley is
determined to find meaning in his loss, to document some part of the
growing war that claimed his own flesh and blood. Leaving his wife,
Helen, behind in Seattle, he heads to the Territory of Alaska to
investigate the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands, a story
censored by the U.S. government. While accompanying a crew on a bombing
run, John’s plane is shot down over the island of Attu. But surviving
the crash is only the beginning of his ordeal in this harsh and
unforgiving fury of a wilderness known as “the Birthplace of Winds.” In
the days ahead, John must battle the elements, starvation, and his own
regrets while evading discovery by the Japanese. Alone in their home
3,000 miles to the south, Helen struggles with her husband’s absence—a
silence that exposes the truth of her sheltered, untested life. Caught
in extraordinary circumstances, in this new world of the missing, she is
forced to reimagine who she is—and what she is capable of doing.
Somehow, she will find John and bring him home, a quest that takes her
into the farthest reaches of the war, beyond the safety of everything
she knows.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Kh_dYSsztY0APE-iuZi_WGyH-wVySjm0sRIBdyMZTbhtsNSyr9ELXI-gcwExramSdY7HpqWV2SjpSj7lWDQHNJPfSEx5Vrr_sSuJ2PET2rSHhSKh-gauYmUhafmuMFSyV56IvazRPE4/s1600/invention+of+wings.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Kh_dYSsztY0APE-iuZi_WGyH-wVySjm0sRIBdyMZTbhtsNSyr9ELXI-gcwExramSdY7HpqWV2SjpSj7lWDQHNJPfSEx5Vrr_sSuJ2PET2rSHhSKh-gauYmUhafmuMFSyV56IvazRPE4/s200/invention+of+wings.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Hetty
“Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century
Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose
her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah,
has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the
world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women. Kidd’s
sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she
is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid.We
follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty five years, as
both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s
destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance,
estrangement and the uneasy ways of love. As the stories build to a
riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage
and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes,
betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to
find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one
of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFsO2vWyntsvP2gUh9veArqj-MuTAurtYe2BeU5_MDm3TH8R2jojYw94TRuJRZLIc8hZCRswySJf7MHlFGEbquUkvMZVKa4v54CGXrtR4w9na9Mac_0C_e4N8PSQzD5dpPKKOhbAD6960/s200/memory+of+lost+senses.jpg" width="133" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Memory of Lost Sense by Judith Kinghorn (in PB Jan 7<sup>th</sup>) </b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Cecily
Chadwick is idling away the long, hot summer of 1911 when a mysterious
countess moves into the large, deserted country house on the edge of her
sleepy English village. Rumors abound about the countess’s many
husbands and lovers, her opulent wealth, and the tragedies that have
marked her life. As Cecily gets to know her, she becomes fascinated by
the remarkable woman—riveted by her tales of life on the Continent, and
of the famous people she once knew. But the countess is clearly troubled
by her memories, and by ruinous secrets that haunt her…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Staying
with the countess is a successful novelist and dear friend who has been
summoned to write the countess’s memoirs. For aspiring writer Cecily,
the novelist’s presence only adds to the intrigue of the house. But it
is the countess’s grandson, Jack, who draws Cecily further into the
tangled web of the countess's past, and sweeps her into an uncertain
future…</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYRNW-DiGaKCrC5b30c3Gb8rczukgGBfEfUVvBgK6FIoRWFdLm86dAmpaYEeorX_i3k3WhJkXYgGw8nfSeGseSs7jSYlxz77UtY3z8Q6hfte3FXSE6aggvb-fG0LWpvi2fVHx0HAmLykA/s1600/harlots+tale.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYRNW-DiGaKCrC5b30c3Gb8rczukgGBfEfUVvBgK6FIoRWFdLm86dAmpaYEeorX_i3k3WhJkXYgGw8nfSeGseSs7jSYlxz77UtY3z8Q6hfte3FXSE6aggvb-fG0LWpvi2fVHx0HAmLykA/s200/harlots+tale.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Harlot’s Tale by Samuel Thomas (Jan 7<sup>th</sup>) </b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It
is August, 1645, one year since York fell into Puritan hands. As the
city suffers through a brutal summer heat, Bridget Hodgson and Martha
Hawkins are drawn into a murder investigation more frightening than
their last. In order to appease God’s wrath—and end the heat-wave —the
city’s overlords have launched a brutal campaign to whip the city’s
sinners into godliness. But for someone in York, this is not enough.
First a prostitute and her client are found stabbed to death, then a
pair of adulterers are beaten and strangled. York’s sinners have been
targeted for execution. Bridget and Martha—assisted once again by Will,
Bridget’s good-hearted nephew—race to find the killer even as he adds
more bodies to his tally. The list of suspects is long: Hezekiah Ward, a
fire and brimstone preacher new to York; Ward’s son, Praise-God, whose
intensity mirrors his father’s; John Stubb, one of Ward’s fanatic
followers, whose taste for blood may not have been sated by his time in
Parliament’s armies. Or could the killer be closer to home? Will’s
brother Joseph is no stranger to death, and he shares the Wards’ dreams
of driving sin from the city. To find the killer, Bridget, Martha, and
Will must uncover the city’s most secret sins, and hope against hope
that the killer does not turn his attention in their direction.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfkETsQhPipUvdy0ELY0PI_Ifps9oY-wOg_0qRP14BRKwHV9Y31X2uMKgqnqkuPIN5iL1g_-BQ5ebMqHVbohfxk3Ks8lLniSYFJyNUsahXMfMe4Y4NWmKaK_AEIejZDiQRoJmXc7DT5e8/s1600/calling+me+home.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfkETsQhPipUvdy0ELY0PI_Ifps9oY-wOg_0qRP14BRKwHV9Y31X2uMKgqnqkuPIN5iL1g_-BQ5ebMqHVbohfxk3Ks8lLniSYFJyNUsahXMfMe4Y4NWmKaK_AEIejZDiQRoJmXc7DT5e8/s200/calling+me+home.jpg" width="130" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler (in PB Jan 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Eighty-nine-year-old
Isabelle McAllister has a favor to ask her hairdresser Dorrie Curtis.
It's a big one. Isabelle wants Dorrie, a black single mom in her
thirties, to drop everything to drive her from her home in Arlington,
Texas, to a funeral in Cincinnati. With no clear explanation why.
Tomorrow. Dorrie, fleeing problems of her own and curious whether she
can unlock the secrets of Isabelle's guarded past, scarcely hesitates
before agreeing, not knowing it will be a journey that changes both
their lives. Over the years, Dorrie and Isabelle have developed more
than just a business relationship. They are friends. But Dorrie,
fretting over the new man in her life and her teenage son's
irresponsible choices, still wonders why Isabelle chose her. Isabelle
confesses that, as a willful teen in 1930s Kentucky, she fell deeply in
love with Robert Prewitt, a would-be doctor and the black son of her
family's housekeeper--in a town where blacks weren't allowed after dark.
The tale of their forbidden relationship and its tragic consequences
makes it clear Dorrie and Isabelle are headed for a gathering of the
utmost importance and that the history of Isabelle's first and greatest
love just might help Dorrie find her own way.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsmLd0aDvldzjmeFgc-0Z3WZLRmyQaECAOoVG_iweTRGZ4a6jaLVGMvxNQwKPPqVjV2qJZrU31-USS6he7ArdLoA8oESUDPpfcezMVypSIPwgC5QS-CH5FW-wB1naRJssuq1psRF-eI8/s1600/gods+of+heavenly+punishment+pb.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsmLd0aDvldzjmeFgc-0Z3WZLRmyQaECAOoVG_iweTRGZ4a6jaLVGMvxNQwKPPqVjV2qJZrU31-USS6he7ArdLoA8oESUDPpfcezMVypSIPwgC5QS-CH5FW-wB1naRJssuq1psRF-eI8/s200/gods+of+heavenly+punishment+pb.jpg" width="132" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Gods of Heavenly Punishment by Jennifer Cody Epstein (in PB Jan 13<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In
this evocative and thrilling epic novel, fifteen-year-old Yoshi
Kobayashi, child of Japan’s New Empire, daughter of an ardent
expansionist and a mother with a haunting past, is on her way home on a
March night when American bombers shower her city with napalm—an attack
that leaves one hundred thousand dead within hours and half the city in
ashen ruins. In the days that follow, Yoshi’s old life will blur beyond
recognition, leading her to a new world marked by destruction and shaped
by those considered the enemy: Cam, a downed bomber pilot taken
prisoner by the Imperial Japanese Army; Anton, a gifted architect who
helped modernize Tokyo’s prewar skyline but is now charged with
destroying it; and Billy, an Occupation soldier who arrives in the
blackened city with a dark secret of his own. Directly or indirectly,
each will shape Yoshi’s journey as she seeks safety, love, and
redemption.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNSh2hOQaRUwIK_Chv3tMjU5OjeKjY9muWZXI6tmkkcdraEvoJLsNsZrzsG_9IiWRJ_7N4eQuyFiHbijhSO3FjzvPfU6YCwB_iRuclkyxo-M3iWbosH5sDeWwwBGCjicOHaKueFiZXc80/s200/dead+in+their+vaulted+arches.jpg" width="133" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley (Jan 14<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Bishop's Lacey is never short of two things: mysteries to solve and pre-adolescent detectives to solve them. In this <i>New York Times</i>bestselling
series of cozy mysteries, young chemist and aspiring detective Flavia
de Luce once again brings her knowledge of poisons and her indefatigable
spirit to solve the most dastardly crimes the English countryside has
to offer, and in the process, she comes closer than ever to solving her
life's greatest mystery--her mother's disappearance. .</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5HJFyqlxcF-FIRWFR6bLUJV1OcNzg-61ef87COs5c15HOaLKZusaXGvCIiI2d0uVDVCyqkPyi-iK60RQP-bCv8AXKGLrwybJW6m-korl2Vh3j7ZPD8cfLNXHtTM8DCOF5za1EuY8Wv0A/s200/visionist.jpg" width="129" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Visionist by Rachel Urquhart (Jan 14<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In
this exquisite, transporting debut, 15-year-old Polly Kimball sets fire
to the family farm, killing her abusive father. She and her young
brother find shelter in a Massachusetts Shaker community called The City
of Hope. It is the Era of Manifestations, when young girls in Shaker
enclaves all across the Northeast are experiencing extraordinary
mystical visions, earning them the honorific of "Visionist" and bringing
renown to their settlements. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
City of Hope has not yet been blessed with a Visionist, but that
changes when Polly arrives and is unexpectedly exalted. As she struggles
to keep her dark secrets concealed in the face of increasing scrutiny,
Polly finds herself in a life-changing friendship with a young Shaker
sister named Charity, a girl who will stake everything--including her
faith--on Polly's honesty and purity.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVig-L311gXREhk3e0bPXS2R0FhC-5uYX5idYrRohLGztng2KJh_E04CYLSrYncWW-CFR8zoUjZ5OK4oWgAo5wVi7k-LDHG5CR78gNp_Re1blFVifxxrTvspbBcO_4WeTIav0hxMWFSmk/s1600/poisoned+island.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVig-L311gXREhk3e0bPXS2R0FhC-5uYX5idYrRohLGztng2KJh_E04CYLSrYncWW-CFR8zoUjZ5OK4oWgAo5wVi7k-LDHG5CR78gNp_Re1blFVifxxrTvspbBcO_4WeTIav0hxMWFSmk/s200/poisoned+island.jpg" width="127" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>The Poisoned Island by Lloyd Shepard (Jan 14<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">LONDON
1812: For forty years Britain has dreamed of the Pacific island of
Tahiti, a dark paradise of bloody cults and beautiful natives. Now,
decades after the first voyage of Captain Cook, a new ship returns to
London, crammed with botanical specimens and, it seems, the mysteries of
Tahiti. When, days after the Solander's arrival, some of its crew are
found dead and their sea-chests ransacked - their throats slashed, faces
frozen into terrible smiles - John Harriott, magistrate of the Thames
river police, puts constable Charles Horton in charge of the
investigation. But what connects the crewmen's dying dreams with the
ambitions of the ship's principal backer, Sir Joseph Banks of the Royal
Society? And how can Britain's new science possibly explain the
strangeness of Tahiti's floral riches now growing at Kew? Horton must
employ his singular methods to uncover a chain of conspiracy stretching
all the way back to the foot of the great dead volcano Tahiti Nui,
beneath the hungry eyes of ancient gods.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Revolutionary by Alex Myers (Jan 14<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Set during the American Revolution, <i>Revolutionary</i>tells
the story of Deborah Samson Gannett, a young woman who runs away from
her home in Middleborough Massachusetts, disguises herself as a man and
enlists in the Continental Army, serving as a soldier for over a year
and a half. Hewing closely to the historical truth, the novel
chronicles Deborah’s departure from her hometown in 1782, her service at
West Point, the action she faced in skirmishes throughout Westchester,
and her travel with General Paterson to quell the mutiny in Philadelphia
in 1783. Amid this historical narrative, Deborah also struggles with
her own transformation and her ability to live as a man, wrestling with
the question of what this means for her future and how she should live
once the war is done. Before she can face that future, though, she must
survive not only the physical battles but also the emotional strains
brought on by warfare, treason, friendship and, ultimately, love.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifkUwf4knowbS7taFKOFjJ04cg1MSzd95IHL4kLwQOhH3d3TS-_doR7HGiC9mbMMed5nWp46LCC6HVvBjzD-DoFse23JlF8Jg0EBmIjj5T6BRmqZrutxTC3H9rKllTJk3EBIUsCSWceg/s200/for+today+I+am+a+Boy.jpg" width="132" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>For Today I Am a Boy by Kim Fu (Jan 14<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;">Peter Huang and his sisters—elegant Adele, shrewd Helen, and Bonnie the bon vivant<i>—</i>grow
up in a house of many secrets, then escape the confines of small-town
Ontario and spread from Montreal to California to Berlin. Peter’s own
journey is obstructed by playground bullies, masochistic lovers,
Christian ex-gays, and the ever-present shadow of his Chinese father. At
birth, Peter had been given the Chinese name <i>juan chaun</i>,
powerful king. The exalted only son in the middle of three daughters,
Peter was the one who would finally embody his immigrant father's ideal
of power and masculinity. But Peter has different dreams: he is certain
he is a girl.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Trieste by Dasda Drdic (Jan 14<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;">Haya
Tedeschi sits alone in Gorizia, in northeastern Italy, surrounded by a
basket of photographs and newspaper clippings. Now an old woman, she
waits to be reunited after sixty-two years with her son, fathered by an
SS officer and stolen from her by the German authorities as part of
Himmler’s clandestine <i>Lebensborn</i>project. Haya reflects on her
Catholicized Jewish family’s experiences, dealing unsparingly with the
massacre of Italian Jews in the concentration camps of Trieste. Her
obsessive search for her son leads her to photographs, maps, and
fragments of verse, to testimonies from the Nuremberg trials and
interviews with second-generation Jews, and to eyewitness accounts of
atrocities that took place on her doorstep. From this broad collage of
material and memory arises the staggering chronicle of Nazi occupation
in northern Italy.</span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCFVo1oHx28NCkCt1zRbLOGPHaF-qwWIs2PHRPSlEZQjpOXGL_Sm7KgqjTzs6tkQKokZgu7hQ3g9DTaDyLRoK7XnWT8ItzpQLH717ECnavmXIsw1Kgd-1Dp5R_y-wClkiMUMWTsFR1XlY/s200/palmerino.jpg" width="124" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Palmerino by Melissa Pritchard (Jan 14<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;">Welcome
to Villa il Palmerino, the British enclave in rural Italy where Violet
Paget, known to the world by her pen name and male persona, Vernon Lee,
held court. In imagining the real life of this brilliant, gender
bending, lesbian polymath known for her chilling supernatural stories,
Melissa Pritchard creates a multilayered tale in which the dead writer
inhabits the heart and mind of her lonely, modern-day biographer.
Positing the art of biography as an act of resurrection and possession,
this novel brings to life a vividly detailed, subtly erotic tale about
secret loves and the fascinating artists and intellectuals—Oscar Wilde,
John Singer Sargent, Henry James, Robert Browning, Bernard Berenson—who
challenged and inspired each other during an age of repression.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>Mrs. Lincoln’s Rival by Jennifer Chiaverini (Jan 14<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Kate
Chase Sprague was born in 1840 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the second daughter
to the second wife of a devout but ambitious lawyer. Her father, Salmon
P. Chase, rose to prominence in the antebellum years and was appointed
secretary of the treasury in Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet, while aspiring
to even greater heights. Beautiful, intelligent, regal, and entrancing,
young Kate Chase stepped into the role of establishing her
thrice-widowed father in Washington society and as a future presidential
candidate. Her efforts were successful enough that <i>The Washington Star</i>
declared her “the most brilliant woman of her day. None outshone her.”
None, that is, but Mary Todd Lincoln. Though Mrs. Lincoln and her young
rival held much in common—political acumen, love of country, and a
resolute determination to help the men they loved achieve greatness—they
could never be friends, for the success of one could come only at the
expense of the other. When Kate Chase married William Sprague, the
wealthy young governor of Rhode Island, it was widely regarded as the
pinnacle of Washington society weddings. President Lincoln was in
attendance. The First Lady was not.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9T46oHs05_LAAw_mEGnyu80KmyljC-iBXIsh8MwwpKG0qRcsfNJlxhdI1dm-TVzYM2c_qshzj6wit-FHfRI5IldKK10eVEs-fxFX9ZDKcQXAcT6yQNpYIP8HIOpgpyDp64kcn24gumAQ/s1600/star+for+mrs+blake.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9T46oHs05_LAAw_mEGnyu80KmyljC-iBXIsh8MwwpKG0qRcsfNJlxhdI1dm-TVzYM2c_qshzj6wit-FHfRI5IldKK10eVEs-fxFX9ZDKcQXAcT6yQNpYIP8HIOpgpyDp64kcn24gumAQ/s200/star+for+mrs+blake.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith (Jan 14<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The
women meet for the first time just before their journey begins: Katie,
an Irish maid from Dorchester, Massachusetts; Minnie, wife of an
immigrant Russian Jewish chicken farmer; Bobbie, a wealthy Boston
socialite ; Wilhelmina, a former tennis star in precarious mental
health; and Cora Blake, a single mother and librarian from coastal
Maine. In Paris, Cora meets a journalist whose drug habit helps him hide
from his own war-time fate-facial wounds so grievous he's forced to
wear a metal mask. This man will change Cora's life in wholly unexpected
ways. And when the women finally travel to Verdun to visit the
battlegrounds where their sons fought as well as the cemeteries where
they are buried, shocking events-a death, a scandal, a secret
revealed-will guarantee that Cora's life and those of her traveling
companions will become inextricably intertwined, and only now will they
be able to emerge from their grief and return home to their loved ones.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTjHtrE-P0U5j4FsXyE6ADxF8YJMPuqNKg3AcMX6_0txCE61buVE2p6bjeXEMxKbmHwh3lJYWxZliyonqe4tdbb6OiQ81hRmJF9PTB2n3nbR6_yqznDevBbPqMDKZZFAuHuy4aBvAX5I/s1600/midnight+rose.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTjHtrE-P0U5j4FsXyE6ADxF8YJMPuqNKg3AcMX6_0txCE61buVE2p6bjeXEMxKbmHwh3lJYWxZliyonqe4tdbb6OiQ81hRmJF9PTB2n3nbR6_yqznDevBbPqMDKZZFAuHuy4aBvAX5I/s200/midnight+rose.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley (Jan 16<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Spanning four generations and two very different cultures,
it sweeps from the glittering palaces of the great maharajahs of India to the
majestic stately homes of England, following the extraordinary life of a girl,
Anahita Chaval, from 1911 to the present day...In the heyday of the British
Raj, eleven-year-old Anahita, from a noble but impoverished family, forms a
lifelong friendship with the headstrong Princess Indira, the privileged
daughter of rich Indian royalty. Becoming the princess' official companion,
Anahita accompanies her friend to England just before the outbreak of the Great
War. There, she meets the young Donald Astbury, reluctant heir to the magnificent,
remote Astbury Estate, and his scheming mother. Eighty years later, Rebecca
Bradley - a young American film star - has the world at her feet. But when her
turbulent relationship with her equally famous boyfriend takes an unexpected
turn, she's relieved that her latest role, playing a 1920s debutante, will take
her away from the glare of publicity to the wilds of Dartmoor in England.
Shortly after filming begins at the now-crumbling Astbury Hall, Ari Malik,
Anahita's great-grandson, arrives unexpectedly, on a quest for his family's
past. What he and Rebecca discover begins to unravel the dark secrets that
haunt the Astbury dynasty...</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyh0E36lYlIo4JHKAoStTR4cOrFnZFblg1KEJWT9yyZOtQyUD87Hmlt3b7VU9EsCJsLrG3JkiNHiZrq8lAkrnZ_qWcNFHVLxbQ8jSmdxKwWF4sjxh2NjLqg7UrUwUw4ED_NvkPjwT1ow/s1600/under+the+jewelled+sky.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyh0E36lYlIo4JHKAoStTR4cOrFnZFblg1KEJWT9yyZOtQyUD87Hmlt3b7VU9EsCJsLrG3JkiNHiZrq8lAkrnZ_qWcNFHVLxbQ8jSmdxKwWF4sjxh2NjLqg7UrUwUw4ED_NvkPjwT1ow/s200/under+the+jewelled+sky.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Under the Jeweled Sky by Alison McQueen (Jan 21st)</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">India, 1947.
As daughter to the personal physican of an Indian Maharaja, Sophie
Schofield has spent her teenage years with a palace as her playground.
But everyone has to grow up sometime, and for Sophie, growing up means
losing her heart - to the one person she shouldn't fall in love with. On
the night of Indian independence, something happens that sends Sophie
away from everything she knows, and ultimately back to postwar England.
Years later, Sophie has put the past behind her. But when her diplomat
husband is posted to Delhi, suddenly her secret won't stay buried. As
India struggles with its new identity, Sophie realizes her own story is
about to fall apart. Facing the truth will mean a journey back into
her past and to the memory of a young boy with tourmaline eyes.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmRBXLxDGgOF4KXx7qrKxCygbQrCOY3U-imuCtgilNSkW_fP6RXlzipijaKcJIz23ylXaAWWeE5xoyBZxntf9es95y5wmecSQSO-2JYHdguejIR9E3hamDTp-98C2wMOKOqiolmmLrnSM/s200/worthy+browns+daughter.jpg" width="131" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Worthy Brown’s Daughter by Philip Margolin (Jan 21<sup>st</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">One
of a handful of lawyers in the new state of Oregon, recently widowed
Matthew Penny agrees to help Worthy Brown, a newly freed slave, rescue
his fifteen year old daughter, Roxanne, from their former master, a
powerful Portland lawyer. Worthy’s lawsuit sets in motion events that
lead to Worthy’s arrest for murder and create an agonizing moral dilemma
that could send either Worthy or Matthew to the hangman. At the same
time, hanging judge Jed Tyler, a powerful politician with a barren
personal life, becomes infatuated with a beautiful gold-digger who is
scheming to murder Benjamin Gillette, Oregon’s wealthiest businessman.
When Gillette appears to die from natural causes, Sharon Hill produces a
forged contract of marriage and Tyler must decide if he will sacrifice
his reputation to defend that of the woman who inspired his irrational
obsession. At Worthy’s trial, Matthew saves Worthy by producing a
stunning courtroom surprise and his attempt to stop the deadly fortune
hunter ends in a violent climax. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-O7J-EqR3s2rKZaUSIAVRIAP8AJyYUHLqcUfZLN4NXfXnIrEnWhNZ2rwKfWZa8aEorB79mFFJsy5vIGL0YLZSOKdkmZdo7_hLhFZxSySAMspS9WbGDmlxXrs_RAWTqTorRYwytlkp94/s200/secret+of+magic.jpg" width="132" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Secret of Magic by Deborah Johnson (Jan 21<sup>st</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Regina
Robichard works for Thurgood Marshall, who receives an unusual letter
asking the NAACP to investigate the murder of a returning black war
hero. It is signed by M. P. Calhoun, the most reclusive author in the
country. As a child, Regina was captivated by Calhoun’s <i>The Secret of Magic</i>,
a novel in which white and black children played together in a magical
forest. Once down in Mississippi, Regina finds that nothing in the
South is as it seems. She must navigate the muddy waters of racism,
relationships, and her own tragic past. <i>The Secret of Magic</i>brilliantly explores the power of stories and those who tell them.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJon5GnEjYRPPnqP9s8ZXd5QZjRutTv0_WI3BJr70Db9_EmwUn_O-rYdBsxAIRFxAicRXEzbbCNz_5yCLfyja2Y9OkkvJYS43TUYCUkOUObgbarJyWOa0awt10p1GAv8aO1aZaTOEe3Pk/s200/under+the+wide+and+starry+sky.jpg" width="131" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Under the Wide Starry Sky by Nancy Horan (Jan 21<sup>st</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Under
the Wide and Starry Sky chronicles the unconventional love affair of
Scottish literary giant Robert Louis Stevenson, author of classics
including Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde, and American divorcee Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne. They meet in
rural France in 1875, when Fanny, having run away from her philandering
husband back in California, takes refuge there with her children.
Stevenson too is escaping from his life, running from family pressure to
become a lawyer. And so begins a turbulent love affair that will last
two decades and span the world.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQ8qnDBiW6AErh4c4GG6AVa13_ouwvGDWourFiSrmfIEq4W5QPoM62cMFRlHePn5pBA_VtccYtx_HBvtrMWD4iypo0YNfEeIFtmQERLFnRlBgXjAr-cSZfRcGeJCYoQBsKQ7Rr08UR3w/s200/marlowe+papers.jpg" width="131" /></b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Marlowe Papers by Ros Barber (in PB Jan 21<sup>st</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">On
May 30, 1593, a celebrated young playwright was killed in a tavern
brawl in London. That, at least, was the official version. Now
Christopher Marlowe reveals the truth: that his "death" was an elaborate
ruse to avoid a conviction of heresy; that he was spirited across the
English Channel to live on in lonely exile; that he continued to write
plays and poetry, hiding behind the name of a colorless man from
Stratford—one William Shakespeare. With the grip of a thriller and the
emotional force of a sonnet, this remarkable novel in verse gives voice
to a man who was brilliant, passionate, and mercurial. A cobbler's son
who counted nobles among his friends, a spy in the Queen's service, a
fickle lover and a declared religious skeptic, Christopher Marlowe
always courted trouble.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfogJophqBkSo1KIN5RrS7dJe__qFB4aArvM0kxg8mdoCcryZExcG2GUUIHo1gJuZjWYmQeoB8o8OwtrUe98GjKnvDqsJtfL3TotqO9FgxkJSDMG4Cpe4Wp5L0F2pJbaa6W1BU5WFbQLk/s1600/queen's+dwarf.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfogJophqBkSo1KIN5RrS7dJe__qFB4aArvM0kxg8mdoCcryZExcG2GUUIHo1gJuZjWYmQeoB8o8OwtrUe98GjKnvDqsJtfL3TotqO9FgxkJSDMG4Cpe4Wp5L0F2pJbaa6W1BU5WFbQLk/s200/queen's+dwarf.jpg" width="131" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Queen’s Dwarf by Ella March Chase (Jan 21<sup>st</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It's
1629, and King Charles I and his French queen Henrietta-Maria have
reigned in England for less than three years. Young dwarf Jeffrey Hudson
is swept away from a village shambles and plunged into the Stuart court
when his father sells him to the most hated man in England—the Duke of
Buckingham. Buckingham trains Jeffrey to be his spy in the household of
Charles’ seventeen-year-old bride, hoping to gain intelligence that will
help him undermine the vivacious queen’s influence with the king.
Desperately homesick in a country that hates her for her nationality and
Catholic faith, Henrietta-Maria surrounds herself with her "Royal
Menagerie of Freaks and Curiosities of Nature"—a "collection" consisting
of a giant, two other dwarves, a rope dancer, an acrobat/animal trainer
and now Jeffrey, who is dubbed "Lord Minimus." Dropped into this family
of misfits, Jeffrey must negotiate a labyrinth of court intrigue and
his own increasingly divided loyalties. For not even the plotting of the
Duke nor the dangers of a tumultuous kingdom can order the heart of a
man. Though he is only eighteen inches tall, Jeffrey Hudson's love will
reach far beyond his grasp—to the queen he has been sent to destroy.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOULdtYVXmvwvjCwqYSX-bp7Xi2-YdW7dsy5iJqtRngW1BhnHi24c-vCEcu3jR_44NZ-Rt3UPmIhBgc7Be4PAwOGOJOt8vgZO3_JESlGx5A7aA170-PIYwOAjJplQ7083Xgxj-XNVxIsw/s200/wife+maid+mistress.jpg" width="132" /></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Wife, the Maid and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon (Jan 28<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>They say behind every great man, there's a woman. In this case, there are three.</i>
Stella Crater, the judge's wife, is the picture of propriety draped in
long pearls and the latest Chanel. Ritzi, a leggy showgirl with Broadway
aspirations, thinks moonlighting in the judge's bed is the quickest way
off the chorus line. Maria Simon, the dutiful maid, has the judge to
thank for her husband's recent promotion to detective in the NYPD.
Meanwhile, Crater is equally indebted to Tammany Hall leaders and the
city's most notorious gangster, Owney "The Killer" Madden. On a sultry
summer night, as rumors circulate about the judge's involvement in
wide-scale political corruption, the Honorable Joseph Crater steps into a
cab and disappears without a trace. <i>Or does he? </i>After 39 years
of necessary duplicity, Stella Crater is finally ready to reveal what
she knows. Sliding into a plush leather banquette at Club Abbey, the
site of many absinthe-soaked affairs and the judge's favorite watering
hole back in the day, Stella orders two whiskeys on the rocks-one for
her and one in honor of her missing husband. Stirring the ice cubes in
the lowball glass, Stella begins to tell a tale-of greed, lust, and
deceit. As the novel unfolds and the women slyly break out of their
prescribed roles, it becomes clear that each knows more than she has
initially let on.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWT1qTY4QZH3fLzvFr3EDbaHiM5rxYURFl9NyHugwE9dhF2VBxgubnOWJlqloDygxamg-0_woXx8erWM3Vkgzh55j44Jtq2RlyRs0bqa8M3lsjFUXS5vwrP9Zq4XUnGqVPLqozNCo_rkY/s1600/ghost+of+the+mary+celeste.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWT1qTY4QZH3fLzvFr3EDbaHiM5rxYURFl9NyHugwE9dhF2VBxgubnOWJlqloDygxamg-0_woXx8erWM3Vkgzh55j44Jtq2RlyRs0bqa8M3lsjFUXS5vwrP9Zq4XUnGqVPLqozNCo_rkY/s200/ghost+of+the+mary+celeste.jpg" width="135" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Ghost of the Mary Celeste by Valerie Martin (Jan 28<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In 1872 the American merchant vessel <i>Mary Celeste</i>
was discovered adrift off the coast of Spain. Her cargo was intact and
there was no sign of struggle, but the crew was gone. They were never
found. This maritime mystery lies at the center of an intricate
narrative branching through the highest levels of late-
nineteenth-century literary society. While on a voyage to Africa, a
rather hard-up and unproven young writer named Arthur Conan Doyle hears
of the <i>Mary Celeste</i> and decides to write an outlandish short
story about what took place. This story causes quite a sensation back in
the United States, particularly between sought-after Philadelphia
spiritualist medium Violet Petra and a rational-minded journalist named
Phoebe Grant, who is seeking to expose Petra as a fraud. Then there is
the family of the <i>Mary Celeste</i>'s captain, a family linked to the
sea for generations and marked repeatedly by tragedy. Each member of
this ensemble cast holds a critical piece to the puzzle of the <i>Mary Celeste</i>.
These three elements-a ship found sailing without a crew, a famous
writer on the verge of enormous success, and the rise of an unorthodox
and heretical religious fervor-converge in unexpected ways, in diaries,
in letters, in safe harbors and rough seas. In a haunted, death-obsessed
age, a ghost ship appearing in the mist is by turns a provocative
mystery, an inspiration to creativity, and a tragic story of the
disappearance of a family and of a bond between husband and wife that,
for one moment, transcends the impenetrable barrier of death.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTEH1E5oRZroQ05uJrYEApDYi0eNv9ZNusCTXyJoZFKFdZW_Uyx0xQVbC1S0CV3_96OUIf8_0qJlmqdtT1G9xWcp6rT0XWzddXnxsGH2BTYzAZDS2vJSmLHgOgGEkohB7fFA6DpOYSPJg/s200/ravenscliffe.jpg" width="133" /></b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>Ravenscliffe by Jane Sanderson (Jan 28th)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Yorkshire,
1904. On Netherwood Common, Russian émigré Anna Rabinovich shows her
dear friend Eve Williams a house: a Victorian villa, solidly built from
local stone. This is Ravenscliffe, and it’s the house Anna wants them to
live in. It’s their house, she says. It was meant to be. As Anna
transforms Ravenscliffe, an attraction grows between her and union man
Amos. But when Eve’s long-lost brother Silas turns up in the
closely-knit mining community of Netherwood, cracks begin to appear in
even the strongest friendships. Meanwhile, at Netherwood Hall,
cherished traditions are being undermined by the whims of the feckless
heir to the title, Tobias Hoyland, and his American bride Thea Stirling.
Below stairs, the loyal servants strive to preserve the noble family’s
dignity and reputation. But both inside the great house and in the world
beyond, values and loyalties are rapidly changing.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyW-12itrkVXr9quH6rj0gV4ZTULbdfGMWDF9YTHlzZ9rEgx40jvmq-2ic17ybF_BkMEfSyCEOGU6inKk0aDN1dTGdeZR1k92C3MrewS_h6AjLdF_1aA_INOsUp-Gf4ZozhYY6j2gcImY/s1600/forbidden+queen.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyW-12itrkVXr9quH6rj0gV4ZTULbdfGMWDF9YTHlzZ9rEgx40jvmq-2ic17ybF_BkMEfSyCEOGU6inKk0aDN1dTGdeZR1k92C3MrewS_h6AjLdF_1aA_INOsUp-Gf4ZozhYY6j2gcImY/s200/forbidden+queen.jpg" width="126" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">The Forbidden Queen by Anne O’Brien (Jan 28<sup>th</sup>)</span> </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">An innocent pawn, A kingdom without a king, A new dynasty will reign… <br />1415.
The jewel in the French crown, Katherine de Valois, is waiting under
lock and key for King Henry V. While he's been slaughtering her kinsmen
in Agincourt, Katherine has been praying for marriage to save her from
her misery. But the brutal king wants her crown, not her innocent love.
For Katherine, England is a lion's den of greed, avarice and mistrust.
And when she is widowed at twenty-one, she becomes a prize ripe for the
taking—her young son the future monarch, her hand in marriage worth a
kingdom. This is a deadly political game, one the dowager queen must
learn fast. The players—the Duke of Gloucester, Edmund Beaufort and Owen
Tudor—are circling. Who will have her? Who will ruin her? This is the
story of Katherine de Valois. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2_iKSUL7ImvosYd_sIuoOYCb0xzHBiTjn4K3DPZJ1YKb6M9wnY1lV6bwlcH2Xh_hfSjcYurh2hlKZ7GHtiNukjI92hj8lrhHAWMc8tWrx-Kq1BAlD5W0vQrZiyp3H1W5JUv25GQ6o5JA/s1600/arcanum.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2_iKSUL7ImvosYd_sIuoOYCb0xzHBiTjn4K3DPZJ1YKb6M9wnY1lV6bwlcH2Xh_hfSjcYurh2hlKZ7GHtiNukjI92hj8lrhHAWMc8tWrx-Kq1BAlD5W0vQrZiyp3H1W5JUv25GQ6o5JA/s200/arcanum.jpg" width="125" /></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Arcanum
by Simon Morden (Jan 28<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rome was the
center of the most powerful empire the world had ever seen, but that didn't stop
it falling to Alaric the Goth, his horde of barbarian tribesmen and their wild
spell-casting shamans. Having split the walls with their sorcery and
slaughtered the inhabitants with their axes, the victors carved up the empire
into a series of bickering states which were never more than an insult away
from war. A thousand years later, and Europe has become an almost civilized
place. The rulers of the old Roman palatinates confine their warfare to the
short summer months, trade flourishes along the rivers and roads, and farming
has become less back-breaking, all due to the magic, bestowed by gods, that
infuses daily life. Even the barbarians' gods have been tamed: where once human
sacrifices poured their blood onto the ground, there are parties and picnics,
drinking and singing, fit for decent people and their children. But it looks
like the gods are going to have the last laugh before they slip quietly into
ill-remembered obscurity..</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5dDtPk-A7oqVLenIEXYDIXon27GB0jS2ZkJEI1_YAbRwiVhZKOIjI20oJ6wf9FIsaROYC8lCcre6Sn0_TeKxEVwnNmQRAmWt20NfXu7J_QwE0ZoRQzPwOHG-WngWlKtfM8jRAUUnT4IE/s1600/hall+of+secrets.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5dDtPk-A7oqVLenIEXYDIXon27GB0jS2ZkJEI1_YAbRwiVhZKOIjI20oJ6wf9FIsaROYC8lCcre6Sn0_TeKxEVwnNmQRAmWt20NfXu7J_QwE0ZoRQzPwOHG-WngWlKtfM8jRAUUnT4IE/s200/hall+of+secrets.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Hall of Secrets by Cate
Campbell (Jan 28<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;">For
generations, the Benedicts have been one of Seattle's most distinguished
families, residing in the splendid Queen Anne mansion known as Benedict Hall
amid a host of loyal servants. But the dawn of the 1920s and the aftermath of
the Great War have brought dramatic social conflict. Never has this been more
apparent than when daughter Margot's thoroughly modern young cousin, Allison,
comes to stay. But Margot is also shocking many of Seattle's genteel citizens,
and her engineer beau, by advocating birth control in her medical practice. For
amid a tangle of blackmail, manipulation, and old enmities, the Benedicts stand
to lose more than money - they may forfeit the very position and reputation
that is their only tether to a rapidly changing world.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fuQsPnWK2NdAlrIZCIWnq6tExAthIepqcH_ouMJVesV-SaCBf1wIwYtUcrp0zy-h71AXRQx5mEICtF5bQ5-PmC1LzDbi32cJSOk6wcbK-JIXQ-M3XO_N3rHhGeRzrc8R-lJQU1qso_o/s1600/I+shall+be+near+to+you.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fuQsPnWK2NdAlrIZCIWnq6tExAthIepqcH_ouMJVesV-SaCBf1wIwYtUcrp0zy-h71AXRQx5mEICtF5bQ5-PmC1LzDbi32cJSOk6wcbK-JIXQ-M3XO_N3rHhGeRzrc8R-lJQU1qso_o/s200/I+shall+be+near+to+you.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>I Shall be Near to You by
Erin Lindsay McCabe (Jan 28<sup>th</sup>)</b> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"> Rosetta
doesn't want her new husband Jeremiah to enlist, but he joins up, hoping to
make enough money that they'll be able to afford their own farm someday. Though
she's always worked by her father’s side as the son he never had, now that
Rosetta is a wife she's told her place is inside with the other women. But
Rosetta decides her true place is with Jeremiah, no matter what that means, and
to be with him she cuts off her hair, hems an old pair of his pants, and signs
up as a Union soldier. Rosetta drills with the men, prepares herself for
battle, and faces the tension as her husband comes to grips with having a
fighting wife. Fearing discovery of her secret, Rosetta’s strong will clashes
with Jeremiah’s as their marriage is tested by war.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggLWawb3eJtTnehFbG4TDG2mMuqDwaZiVfBl5KKmsgwgzsj9ezoFWdumiTv8qU7PQ6DtKqLhh2R_sCh5PXA9X3oeVHumct28BSLbTajc-Z9OwK5LS-NwGJr-Wx3K-NLQv7aZVtJuSyzps/s1600/arnifour+affair.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggLWawb3eJtTnehFbG4TDG2mMuqDwaZiVfBl5KKmsgwgzsj9ezoFWdumiTv8qU7PQ6DtKqLhh2R_sCh5PXA9X3oeVHumct28BSLbTajc-Z9OwK5LS-NwGJr-Wx3K-NLQv7aZVtJuSyzps/s200/arnifour+affair.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Arnifour Affair by
Gregory Harris (Jan 28<sup>th</sup>)</b> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;">When
a carriage bearing the Arnifour family crest--a vulture devouring a slaughtered
lamb--arrives at the Kensington home of Colin Pendragon, it is an ominous
beginning to a perplexing new case. Lady Arnifour's husband has been beaten to
death and her niece, Elsbeth, left in a coma. Is the motive passion, revenge,
or something even more sinister? Police suspicions have fallen on the
groundskeeper and his son, yet the Earl's widow is convinced of their
innocence. Even as Colin and his partner Ethan Pruitt delve into the muddy
history of the Arnifour family, a young street urchin begs their help in
finding his missing sister. Ethan, regrettably familiar with London's
underbelly, urges caution, yet Colin's interest is piqued. And in a search that
wends from the squalid opium dens of the East End to the salons of Embassy Row,
the truth about these seemingly disparate cases will prove disquieting,
dangerous, and profoundly unexpected. . .</span></span></span></div>
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-84444818277757908792013-11-20T10:00:00.000-05:002013-11-22T00:00:10.155-05:00December Historical Fiction Preview<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">DECEMBER 2013:</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The Wealth of Jamestown by Barbara N. McLennan (Dec 1st)</span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
history of Virginia reflects the character and goals of the people who
lived there, including the women who often ran the plantations and made
the deals that became the foundation of the wealth and the basis of the
laws. William Roscoe, young Virginia planter and sheriff, and Sarah
Harrison, daughter of one of Virginia’s wealthiest planters, are engaged
and in love, but Sarah is forced by her father for business reasons to
break the engagement and marry James Blair, Commissary of the Church of
England. She retains her dowry and wealth, and while Blair goes to
England to lobby for a college of which he’d be President, she continues
her relationship with William. She has a baby to be raised by her
brother as Benjamin Harrison IV, and continues accumulating property.
She and William come to own two sailing ships, and William begins trade
with pirates in the new city of Charles Towne. Blair returns to Virginia
and raises disputes with Governor Andros and his council. Blair goes
back to London and accuses Andros of various offenses before an
ecclesiastical court there. With the war with France finished, Andros
decides to retire and return to England. Blair takes credit for removing
the governor and selecting the new governor. He returns to a colony
that is bursting with wealth and growth and excitement, over which he
wants to exercise power, but which he doesn’t understand.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The Spook Lights Affair (A Carpenter and Quincannon
Mystery) by Marcia Muller and Bill
Pronzini (Dec 3<sup>rd</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">In 1895 San
Francisco young debutantes don’t commit suicide at festive parties, particularly
not under the watchful eye of Sabina Carpenter. But Virginia St. Ives evidently
did, leaping from the foggy parapet at Sutro Heights in a shimmer of ghostly
light. The seemingly impossible disappearance of her body creates an even more
serious problem for the firm of Carpenter and Quincannon, Professional
Detective Services. Sabina hadn’t wanted to take the assignment, but her
partner John Quincannon insisted that it would serve as entrée into the world
of the city’s ultra rich and powerful. That meant money, and Quincannon loves
the almighty dollar. Which was why, on his own, he is hunting the bandit who’d
robbed the Wells, Fargo office of $35,000. Working their separate cases (while
Sabina Carpenter holds John Quincannon off with one light hand), the detectives
give readers a tour of The City the way it was. From the infamous Barbary Coast
to the expensive Tenderloin gaming houses and brothels frequented by wealthy
men, Quincannon follows a dangerladen trail to unmask the murderous
perpetrators of the Wells, Fargo robbery. Meanwhile, Sabina works her wiles on
friends and relatives of the vanished debutante until the pieces of her puzzle
start falling into place. But it’s an oddly disguised gent appearing out of
nowhere who provides the final clue to the solution of both cases – the shrewd
“crackbrain” who believes himself to be Sherlock Holmes.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwFyWBrBXyyX4Og37Bv8JfbtQDZFe4IUwKlb0HliwttiL7eSEL3i3McDEvNgYg7TtF1cXFNPzbX1pOQIHhWVI0d8flKgzSc6Jbz868nNbHPQWKSBfYWZ43_O1SdKEf9OfKRv6o5ccd5hg/s1600/vanishing+thief.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwFyWBrBXyyX4Og37Bv8JfbtQDZFe4IUwKlb0HliwttiL7eSEL3i3McDEvNgYg7TtF1cXFNPzbX1pOQIHhWVI0d8flKgzSc6Jbz868nNbHPQWKSBfYWZ43_O1SdKEf9OfKRv6o5ccd5hg/s200/vanishing+thief.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Vanishing Thief (A Victorian Bookshop Mystery) by Kate Parker (Dec 3rd) </b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">At
30, Victorian bookshop owner Georgia Fenchurch knows she’s considered a
middle-class old maid. That’s all right with her. She has the bookshop
she inherited when her parents were murdered before her eyes, providing
her with a living and something to keep her busy during the day. At
night, she has another occupation. Driven by her need to see people
rescued and justice done, she works with the Archivist Society. In the
foggy London of coal fires and carriages, glittering balls and Sherlock
Holmes, the Archivist Society digs through musty records searching for
the truth. They also don disguises and assume identities as they hunt
for missing people, stolen treasures, and cunning murderers. Between her
efforts for the Archivist Society and her management of the bookshop,
Georgia doesn’t have time to be lonely. When a respectable middle-class
woman comes into her bookshop complaining that a duke has abducted her
next door neighbor, Georgia thinks the investigation will be a short
one. Instead, she finds herself embroiled in theft, blackmail, lies,
secret marriages, and murder. The man Georgia is asked to find may be
royalty, may be dead, and is definitely missing. The woman who hired her
won’t reveal the truth. The accused duke may be a victim or a killer,
but he certainly is involved in the hunt for the missing man. And every
aristocrat who knew the missing man seems to be hiding their own
dangerous lie. As Georgia crosses London searching for the missing man,
she finds herself staring into the face of the one person she has
wanted to capture for a dozen years. The one who got away. The man who
killed her parents.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjm399gyMd2pb3mNlmUgb4B7iep6wTC-HJuGYOdfj0WrXj3TN3gwuq4DdtAd0_DExXDTprkJ_FlYnSqM9fbnppExSLKjmUEiE5GAEFMXdIq2OdH1HHhtds-CnNTYEXGp-a86dcQ3pCIo/s1600/covenant+with+hell.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjm399gyMd2pb3mNlmUgb4B7iep6wTC-HJuGYOdfj0WrXj3TN3gwuq4DdtAd0_DExXDTprkJ_FlYnSqM9fbnppExSLKjmUEiE5GAEFMXdIq2OdH1HHhtds-CnNTYEXGp-a86dcQ3pCIo/s200/covenant+with+hell.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Covenant
with Hell: A Medieval Mystery by Priscilla Royal (Dec 3<sup>rd</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Still
troubled by the events in The Sanctity of Hate, Prioress Eleanor goes on a
pilgrimage in the spring of 1277 to a famous East Anglian shrine. There are
rumors that King Edward may also come here soon to seek God’s blessing for his
invasion of Wales. Lurking in this sacred place, however, is an assassin
hoping to murder a king. Soon after Prioress Eleanor and Brother Thomas
arrive, a nun falls to her death from the priory bell tower. Brother Thomas
finds the body, leading some to fervently pray that the monk and his prioress
do not grow curious. But the pair quickly grasps that this nun’s death was not
a simple tragedy. The circumstances point to murder, but this slaying is
further tainted with treason. Amongst the pilgrims, merchants, and religious,
too many betray an interest in this death, including a canny street child. At
least one of that number is most certainly a killer. Can Prioress Eleanor and
Brother Thomas succeed in exposing the assassin or will they also fall victim
to one who has made a covenant with hell?</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBiDvUjaLnN1N8f6z4Bs91TmNRwMoY5u1V_B70A2RpjCOZC3EPBs1CnYELsSjSyxMNRX17D91V3MbtTaJC3YxGhE1omh8UjtKxGdLhtX_NDwDLe1Edw2wc2SWiL3cn0e0-5C4ZO_t-4FA/s1600/daughters+of+the+nile.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBiDvUjaLnN1N8f6z4Bs91TmNRwMoY5u1V_B70A2RpjCOZC3EPBs1CnYELsSjSyxMNRX17D91V3MbtTaJC3YxGhE1omh8UjtKxGdLhtX_NDwDLe1Edw2wc2SWiL3cn0e0-5C4ZO_t-4FA/s200/daughters+of+the+nile.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Daughters of the Nile
by Stephanie Dray (Dec 3<sup>rd</sup>) </b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">After years of abuse as the
emperor’s captive in Rome, Cleopatra Selene has risen to prominence as the most
powerful queen in the empire. Ruling over the exotic land of Mauritania, she
intends to revive her dynasty. But when Augustus Caesar jealously demands to
keep her children with him in Rome, Cleopatra Selene is drawn back into the web
of imperial plots that she vowed to leave behind.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUApXtC8Ie4Ak55RvBK6u2btmrr5qju9j7CaSIYzvZu5zXUu7RzyNJEQ2c63K9Ayx1fRodjsM2s1aBKe-yGQhAgOk0_ALRwT1fpKybQC1-BS_iVbEUzfCxDJb3s9tPVWb27o3Ag02n1fA/s1600/light+up+in+wonder.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUApXtC8Ie4Ak55RvBK6u2btmrr5qju9j7CaSIYzvZu5zXUu7RzyNJEQ2c63K9Ayx1fRodjsM2s1aBKe-yGQhAgOk0_ALRwT1fpKybQC1-BS_iVbEUzfCxDJb3s9tPVWb27o3Ag02n1fA/s200/light+up+in+wonder.jpg" width="148" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Light Up in Wonder by Patrick
Gooch (Dec 4<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">When Sam Lockhart is captured on film by George Albert
Smith, the result alters both their lives. The year is 1896, and cinematography
is in its infancy. Smith, a showman and illusionist, believes moving pictures
could add to his Brighton-based theatrical acts. Lockhart and Smith soon gain a
reputation for producing entertaining films. Sam travels to New York to find a
new distributor, and is helped by Carl Laemmle, a German émigré. Laemmle
foresees the future. Instead of investing his savings in a clothing store, he
buys two nickelodeons. When a number of small film producers band together, an
organization is created called the Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Carl
Laemmle emerges as president, and makes the decision to move to California and
establish Universal City. <i>Light Up In Wonder</i> highlights the romance and
the exhilaration felt with the advent of motion pictures. It also exposes the
less welcome aspects: the in-fighting, greed, and conflict when this exciting,
new form of entertainment first caught the public's imagination.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The
English Girl by Margaret Leroy (UK Release Dec 5<sup>th</sup>) </b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
seventeen-year-old Stella Whittaker is offered the chance to study at the
Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna it's a dream-come-true, made
possible by old family friends, Rainer and Marthe Kraus, who offer her a room
in their apartment. Seduced by the elegant beauty of the city, Stella explores
the magnificent palaces, gardens and fashionable coffee houses, and after a
chance meeting in an art gallery, falls in love with Harri Reznik, a young
Jewish doctor. But as the threat of war casts a dark shadow over Europe, Stella
soon discovers that both the household where she lives, and the city she has
come to call home, are not as welcoming as they once seemed. And at the dawn of
this terrifying new world, no one is safe. An exquisitely crafted novel about a
young woman who risks everything for love.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2l-wyFojvsA194wtSE78dqvVbX1wO_45SxCZL7-pwe1mFcBnlXF8VmL-MfEBBVn-IyWFo3Jj8109UBaFmL1nQC4m1tWppgtd58xoVtm1pBO4lvGpX7H4dRFBcczvecp7HoQTXVuXQZw/s1600/carolina+gold.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2l-wyFojvsA194wtSE78dqvVbX1wO_45SxCZL7-pwe1mFcBnlXF8VmL-MfEBBVn-IyWFo3Jj8109UBaFmL1nQC4m1tWppgtd58xoVtm1pBO4lvGpX7H4dRFBcczvecp7HoQTXVuXQZw/s200/carolina+gold.jpg" width="135" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Carolina Gold by
Dorothy Love (Dec 10<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Charlotte Fraser returns to her late
father's once-flourishing rice plantation on the Waccamaw River, determined to
continue his tradition of growing the special kind of rice known as Carolina
Gold. But Fairhaven Plantation is in ruins, the bondsmen are free, and money is
scarce. To make ends meet, Charlotte reluctantly accepts a position as tutor to
the young daughters of Nicholas Betancourt, heir to the neighboring Willowood
Plantation. Then Nick's quest to prove his ownership of Fairhaven sends
Charlotte on a dangerous journey that uncovers a family mystery . . . and
threatens all that she holds dear.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Housemaid’s Daughter by Barbara Mutch (Dec 10<sup>th</sup>)</b></span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Duty
and love collide on the arid plains of central South Africa. Previously
released as 'Karoo Plainsong' this is a fully revised debut novel.
Cathleen Harrington leaves her home in Ireland in 1919 to travel to
South Africa and marry the fiance she has not seen for five years.
Isolated and estranged in a harsh landscape, she finds solace in her
diary and the friendship of her housemaid's daughter, Ada. Cathleen
recognizes in her someone she can love and respond to in a way that she
cannot with her own husband and daughter. Under Cathleen's tutelage, Ada
grows into an accomplished pianist, and a reader who cannot resist
turning the pages of the diary, discovering the secrets Cathleen sought
to hide. When Ada is compromised and finds she is expecting a mixed-race
child, she flees her home, determined to spare Cathleen the knowledge
of her betrayal, and the disgrace that would descend upon the family.
Scorned within her own community, Ada is forced to carve a life for
herself, her child, and her music. But Cathleen still believes in Ada,
and risks the constraints of apartheid to search for her and persuade
her to return with her daughter. Beyond the cruelty, there is love, hope
- and redemption.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Midwife's Tale: A Mystery by Samuel Thomas (in PB Dec 10th)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is 1644, and Parliament’s armies have risen against the King and laid
siege to the city of York. Even as the city suffers at the rebels’
hands, midwife Bridget Hodgson becomes embroiled in a different sort of
rebellion. One of Bridget’s friends, Esther Cooper, has been convicted
of murdering her husband and sentenced to be burnt alive. Convinced that
her friend is innocent, Bridget sets out to find the real killer.
Bridget joins forces with Martha Hawkins, a servant who’s far more
skilled with a knife than any respectable woman ought to be. To save
Esther from the stake, they must dodge rebel artillery, confront a
murderous figure from Martha’s past, and capture a brutal killer who
will stop at nothing to cover his tracks. The investigation takes
Bridget and Martha from the homes of the city’s most powerful families
to the alleyways of its poorest neighborhoods. As they delve into the
life of Esther’s murdered husband, they discover that his ostentatious
Puritanism hid a deeply sinister secret life, and that far too often
tyranny and treason go hand in hand.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCo5RJKMSqCCBsZlx0HaUhMYccWZXXKhw07Uw3d9GRAqxdQIGPZ6rIaRt4mWCLco1EI8GnBX3jzlRqdgq8GadIZzufZ6__USuMN23n2Xs_6z6B-XXHMjeB3R9HAZ-BTV-2Ng3O3muCEhg/s1600/new+countess.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCo5RJKMSqCCBsZlx0HaUhMYccWZXXKhw07Uw3d9GRAqxdQIGPZ6rIaRt4mWCLco1EI8GnBX3jzlRqdgq8GadIZzufZ6__USuMN23n2Xs_6z6B-XXHMjeB3R9HAZ-BTV-2Ng3O3muCEhg/s200/new+countess.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The
New Countess by Fay Weldon (Dec 17<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">England,
1903. Lord Robert and Lady Isobel Dilberne and the entire grand estate, with
its hundred rooms, are busy planning for a visit from Edward VII and Queen Alexandra
just a few months away. Preparations are elaborate and exhaustive: the menus and
fashions must be just so, and so must James, the new heir and son of Arthur
Dilberne and Chicago heiress, Minnie O'Brien. But there are problems. Little
James is being reared to Lady Isobel's tastes, not Minnie's. And Mrs. O'Brien
is visiting from America and causing trouble. Meanwhile, the Dilbernes' niece,
Adela, is back and stirring up hysteria in the servants' hall by claiming the
house is cursed. The royal visit is imperiled, but so are the Dilberne finances
once more. His Lordship is under tremendous stress, and the pecking order will
soon be upset as everything at Dilberne Court changes.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpots1l5RMKxMOUHoZBEHj8-QjQZndcoYmqW2Vuw5QGjNTJcOEIMqgbB5ugGmnBTZbjX6xvxHiZZUR1iFTfHZOKknNnVdc12hAggh8Tc7kU1Jkteh2s6xpfs1-At_ZmztpcFfXR-wdQTQ/s1600/proof+of+guilt+pb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpots1l5RMKxMOUHoZBEHj8-QjQZndcoYmqW2Vuw5QGjNTJcOEIMqgbB5ugGmnBTZbjX6xvxHiZZUR1iFTfHZOKknNnVdc12hAggh8Tc7kU1Jkteh2s6xpfs1-At_ZmztpcFfXR-wdQTQ/s200/proof+of+guilt+pb.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd (in PB Dec 17<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">London,
summer 1920. An unidentified body appears to have been run down by a
motorcar and Ian Rutledge is leading the investigation to uncover what
happened. While the signs point to murder, vital questions remain: Who
is the victim? And where, exactly, was he killed? One small clue leads
Rutledge to a firm built by two families, famous for producing and
selling the world’s best Madeira wine. Lewis French, the current head of
the English enterprise, is missing. But is he the dead man? And does
either his fiancée or his jilted former lover have anything to do with
his disappearance—or possible death? What about his sister? Or the
London office clerk? Is Matthew Traynor, French’s cousin and partner who
heads the Madeira office, somehow involved? The experienced Rutledge
knows that suspicion and circumstantial evidence are not proof of guilt,
and he’s going to keep digging for answers. But that perseverance will
pit him against his supervisor, the new acting chief superintendent.
When Rutledge discovers a link to an incident in the French family’s
past, the superintendent dismisses it, claiming the information isn’t
vital. He’s determined to place the blame on one of French’s women
despite Rutledge’s objections. Alone in a no-man’s-land rife with
mystery and danger, Rutledge must tread very carefully, for someone has
decided that he, too, must die so that cruel justice can take its
course.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHw34edgsXzEV4qC3vs0UMO9Wnx0N8MEJJUEeLkYGl4-zsv7BdW8WmayWetCjEVOLCpQmWquAvcxTA8yd3J3JP9CG1zjuyk-C4RPc645kXoA83_hE5WsVlv7tULLuB6x3iOrmZGx2mU5s/s1600/painter+of+silence+pb.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHw34edgsXzEV4qC3vs0UMO9Wnx0N8MEJJUEeLkYGl4-zsv7BdW8WmayWetCjEVOLCpQmWquAvcxTA8yd3J3JP9CG1zjuyk-C4RPc645kXoA83_hE5WsVlv7tULLuB6x3iOrmZGx2mU5s/s200/painter+of+silence+pb.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding (in PB Dec 17<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is the early 1950s. A nameless man is found on the steps of the
hospital in Iasi, Romania. He is deaf and mute, but a young nurse named
Safta recognizes him from the past and brings him paper and pencils so
that he might draw. Gradually, memories appear on the page: The man is
Augustin, son of the cook at the manor house that was Safta’s family
home. Born six months apart, they had grown up with a connection that
bypassed words, but while Augustin’s world stayed the same size, Safta’s
expanded to embrace languages, society, and a fleeting love one long,
hot summer. But then came war, and in its wake a brutal Stalinist
regime, and nothing would remain the same.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbXs7cqAzJ3CgCbaJJNJyfgA6-8cPnr2mC0Pguxm1mPLwwHMlGeYzDfO0MdqkXNDgidxs8cKLabJ9EcUT1ydEF4XrPJjT7y6mtdyvObjEYF1guxIeFD-_E9HZe7OFVYySaup7E97cKKGg/s1600/devil's+breath.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbXs7cqAzJ3CgCbaJJNJyfgA6-8cPnr2mC0Pguxm1mPLwwHMlGeYzDfO0MdqkXNDgidxs8cKLabJ9EcUT1ydEF4XrPJjT7y6mtdyvObjEYF1guxIeFD-_E9HZe7OFVYySaup7E97cKKGg/s200/devil's+breath.jpg" width="136" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000;">The Devil’s Breath by Tessa Harris (Dec 31<sup>st</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A man staggers out of his cottage into the
streets of Oxfordshire, shattering an otherwise peaceful evening with the
terrible sight of his body shaking and heaving, eyes wild with horror. Many of
the villagers believe the Devil himself has entered Joseph Makepeace, the
latest victim of a "great fog" that darkens the skies over England
like a Biblical plague. When Joseph's son and daughter are found
murdered--heads bashed in by a shovel--the town's worst suspicions are
confirmed: Evil is abroad, and needs to be banished. A brilliant man of
science, Dr. Thomas Silkstone is not one to heed superstition. But when he
arrives at the estate of the lovely widow Lady Lydia Farrell, he finds that
it's not just her grain and livestock at risk. A shroud of mystery surrounds
Lydia's lost child, who may still be alive in a workhouse. A natural disaster
fills the skies with smoke and ash, clogging the lungs of all who breathe it
in. And the grisly details of a father's crime compels Dr. Silkstone to look
for answers beyond his medical books--between the Devil and the deep blue sea.
. .</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0Vx7TjoLJ7bkQ4wyUS1I2x0bsipx7Gs6kwnJkaBndOvvPn57ApDtf_LfKvEZuLLgsVCfkyepXBJ19lmTbqnNkeo8b1yqBxUrfgFxBQbPug9SnlATOqwY4_hWfZif018LcPs23HXi-1g/s1600/becoming+josephine.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0Vx7TjoLJ7bkQ4wyUS1I2x0bsipx7Gs6kwnJkaBndOvvPn57ApDtf_LfKvEZuLLgsVCfkyepXBJ19lmTbqnNkeo8b1yqBxUrfgFxBQbPug9SnlATOqwY4_hWfZif018LcPs23HXi-1g/s200/becoming+josephine.jpg" width="136" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Becoming Josephine by Heather Webb (Dec 31<sup>st</sup>)</span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Readers are fascinated with the wives of famous men. In <i>Becoming
Josephine,</i> debut novelist Heather Webb follows Rose Tascher as she sails
from her Martinique plantation to Paris, eager to enjoy an elegant life at the
royal court. Once there, however, Rose’s aristocratic soldier-husband dashes
her dreams by abandoning her amid the tumult of the French Revolution. After
narrowly escaping death, Rose reinvents herself as Josephine, a beautiful
socialite wooed by an awkward suitor—Napoleon Bonaparte.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggr8xftZQZX2dJ4vZdfI8Jx99jRvegopdj04TccJBr6Wtyg6m4MQPdVy6nWM2e6E_o0hD0uwhyphenhyphenxquvsDPMTfz0gp4r0Ra7KER_73q5ERJcsAhKgYM2nrm155inrvZFIFNH6cnzWS-z_v8/s1600/somewhere+in+france.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggr8xftZQZX2dJ4vZdfI8Jx99jRvegopdj04TccJBr6Wtyg6m4MQPdVy6nWM2e6E_o0hD0uwhyphenhyphenxquvsDPMTfz0gp4r0Ra7KER_73q5ERJcsAhKgYM2nrm155inrvZFIFNH6cnzWS-z_v8/s200/somewhere+in+france.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson (Dec 31st)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Lady
Elizabeth Neville-Ashford wants to travel the world, pursue a career,
and marry for love. But in 1914, the stifling restrictions of
aristocratic British society and her mother’s rigid expectations forbid
Lily from following her heart. When war breaks out, the spirited young
woman seizes her chance for independence. Defying her parents, she moves
to London and eventually becomes an ambulance driver in the newly
formed Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps—an exciting and treacherous job that
takes her close to the Western Front. Assigned to a field hospital in
France, Lily is reunited with Robert Fraser, her dear brother Edward’s
best friend. The handsome Scottish surgeon has always encouraged Lily’s
dreams. She doesn’t care that Robbie grew up in poverty—she yearns for
their friendly affection to become something more. Lily is the most
beautiful—and forbidden—woman Robbie has ever known. Fearful for her
life, he’s determined to keep her safe, even if it means breaking her
heart. In a world divided by class, filled with uncertainty and death,
can their hope for love survive. . . or will it become another casualty
of this tragic war?</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYlK-MkpmDhASSsQqWcyhdnA6-3tLjp35bo6p6bx2Dm3f6Dvjo447K7rLtpuiWWqfLA1I3vysnfshmreNxz1FTqh6z1YOwmgPRiza4G4vHJU2KthqUp3lWupnqV0bvvq33LHk4y2VQ12g/s200/netherwood.jpg" width="133" /></b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;"><b>Netherwood by Jane Sanderson (Dec 31st)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Eve
Williams is about to discover just how the other half really live...
Above stairs: Lord Netherwood keeps his considerable fortune ticking
over with the profits from his three coal mines in the vicinity. It’s
just as well the coal is of the highest quality as the upkeep of
Netherwood Hall, his splendid estate on the outskirts of town, doesn’t
come cheap. And that’s not to mention the cost of keeping his wife and
daughters in the latest fashions—and keeping the heir, the charming but
feckless Tobias, out of trouble. Below stairs: Eve Williams, is the
wife of one of Lord Netherwood’s most stalwart employees. When her
ordered existence amid the terraced rows of the miners’ houses is
brought crashing down by the twin arrivals of tragedy and charity, Eve
must look to her own self-sufficiency, and talent, to provide for her
three young children. And it’s then that ‘upstairs’ and
‘downstairs’collide in truly dramatic fashion...</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-66654273248309336732013-11-19T10:00:00.000-05:002013-11-21T23:58:40.313-05:00Historical Fiction Out This Month<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpd0GuxIBMgAOqD8-BhZEFzrsbkcdBTRzk1NYZBctMkoeWpVg-phWXqRloCOVL6gko9PgixVQGDY_Y36123lSl2ohd9kAlcZ4ui-E9zyzVZAXOm4GQsx6ewW-BMDfvXEA3xDMry9V8H2o/s1600/crimson+rose.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpd0GuxIBMgAOqD8-BhZEFzrsbkcdBTRzk1NYZBctMkoeWpVg-phWXqRloCOVL6gko9PgixVQGDY_Y36123lSl2ohd9kAlcZ4ui-E9zyzVZAXOm4GQsx6ewW-BMDfvXEA3xDMry9V8H2o/s200/crimson+rose.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Crimson
Rose by M.J. Trow (Nov 1<sup>st</sup>)</b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">March, 1587.
Christopher Marlowe’s play Tamburlaine, with the incomparable Ned Alleyn in the
title role, has opened at the Rose Theatre, and a new era on the London stage
is born. Yet the play is almost shut down on its opening night. For a member of the
audience, Eleanor Merchant, lies dead, hit by a musket ball fired from the
stage. The man with his finger on the trigger? A bit-part player named Will
Shakespeare. Convinced of Shakespeare’s innocence, Marlowe determines to find
out what really happened. When a second body is found floating in the River
Thames, it becomes clear that Eleanor Merchant’s death was no accident, and
that something deeper and darker is afoot. And why is the Queen’s spymaster,
Sir Francis Walsingham, taking a close personal interest in the case?</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Bn29_RF4RaG26qAh6HzPdhLx0oL57jyIJNRm4q7SEeK0nJSWfXLlCiEQ397CGS7HwpemIBmQdDzfQpmYgH0xvnd4qaXCg6VDlFvt85C8La4_wnV9K6G59vycOY3uWeXziUMxwuNso9M/s1600/hardcastles+traitors.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Bn29_RF4RaG26qAh6HzPdhLx0oL57jyIJNRm4q7SEeK0nJSWfXLlCiEQ397CGS7HwpemIBmQdDzfQpmYgH0xvnd4qaXCg6VDlFvt85C8La4_wnV9K6G59vycOY3uWeXziUMxwuNso9M/s200/hardcastles+traitors.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Hardcastle’s
Traitors by Graham Ison (Nov 1<sup>st</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It is New
Year’s Eve 1915 and the Hardcastle family are welcoming 1916 at their home in
Kennington, London. But an hour into the New Year, Hardcastle is called to a
murder in a jeweller’s shop in Vauxhall. In a first for the A Division senior
detective, the killers apparently made their escape in a motor car. As
Hardcastle’s enquiry progresses, what he believed to be a fairly
straightforward investigation turns into one with ramifications extending from
Chelsea via Sussex and Surrey to France, close to the fighting on the Western
Front. And as is so often the case in wartime, the army becomes involved and
so, to Hardcastle’s dismay, does Scotland Yard’s Special Branch . . .</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pPoLdllOrwxt2GSVZzJK0_HxYClneF4EYZ40d3kXk1_LBnvOonvHimHMM1uHBfeYs4LwAW32jH1waOrkQZI-q4_rmkPcqijzQ7BBit4p28ASQhOyobt7oOeSA4MjZEvKeuPvB8YV5RM/s1600/marbeck+and+the+king+in+waiting.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pPoLdllOrwxt2GSVZzJK0_HxYClneF4EYZ40d3kXk1_LBnvOonvHimHMM1uHBfeYs4LwAW32jH1waOrkQZI-q4_rmkPcqijzQ7BBit4p28ASQhOyobt7oOeSA4MjZEvKeuPvB8YV5RM/s200/marbeck+and+the+king+in+waiting.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Marbeck
and the King-in-Waiting by John Pilkington (Nov 1<sup>st</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Spring,
1603: Queen Elizabeth is dying, and England waits anxiously. The Virgin Queen
hasn’t named an heir, refusing even to speak. Her cousin James, King of
Scotland, is assumed to be her successor, but will the transition be peaceful?
Sir Robert Cecil, Secretary of State, fears insurrection and has brought troops
to the capital. But from where might the danger come – overseas, or from
malcontents closer to home? Meanwhile Marbeck, Cecil’s best intelligencer, is
under a cloud, wrongly suspected of shady dealings with the Spanish. So when
the son of his friend Lady Celia Scroop joins a fanatical Puritan sect, he’s
glad to leave London to try and find the wayward youth. But events move fast
and Marbeck finds himself in a maelstrom: forced to confront plots from two
directions, that threaten not only the peace of the nation but the very fabric
of England itself . . .</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-aPHy3ygCohOWT40wwjurS0NamHRGFrHui-cZ2AxySA638kGGlBpBvrB-GID-0bYZmkL0arlCNdk7IPqeTxgZBoT8LMRe-uH98ziUBPIeKL_jiRsemFCgRaaHB13OgZ1bhY8aeYvYsY/s1600/solid+citizens.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-aPHy3ygCohOWT40wwjurS0NamHRGFrHui-cZ2AxySA638kGGlBpBvrB-GID-0bYZmkL0arlCNdk7IPqeTxgZBoT8LMRe-uH98ziUBPIeKL_jiRsemFCgRaaHB13OgZ1bhY8aeYvYsY/s200/solid+citizens.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Solid
Citizens by David Wishart (Nov 1<sup>st</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">December,
AD39. While enjoying the Winter Festival holiday at his adopted daughter’s home
in the Alban Hills, Marcus Corvinus discovers that an outwardly respectable
pillar of the community, local politician Quintus Caesius has been discovered
beaten to death at the rear entrance of the town brothel. Questioning those who
knew the victim, Corvinus is dismayed to find Bovillae a place of small town
secrets, bitter feuds, malicious gossip and deadly rivalry: a world away from
the sophistication of Rome. As he is to discover, there are several suspects
with reason to bear Caesius a grudge. But who would hate him enough to kill
him? And what would a supposedly solid citizen be doing visiting the local
brothel?</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaXAwiOpq6Faam_40CWnZMGiYnV1gW7yvXK_T3loRRCqpN6VPHzn5rJgGA1gQjq-ygdYbBGr3XKrWanl0GsF1sVetksVoBHPilPo92U1KgaawvjtgHWRrUKnb-0zOsYMZ8m7lbpmRo70/s1600/phoenix.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaXAwiOpq6Faam_40CWnZMGiYnV1gW7yvXK_T3loRRCqpN6VPHzn5rJgGA1gQjq-ygdYbBGr3XKrWanl0GsF1sVetksVoBHPilPo92U1KgaawvjtgHWRrUKnb-0zOsYMZ8m7lbpmRo70/s200/phoenix.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Phoenix (Morland Dynasty #35) by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles (Nov
1<sup>st</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It is 1931 and the world is still reeling from the aftermath
of the Wall Street Crash. Polly Morland has returned to Morland Place, saving
it from financial ruin. Her plans to change things are met with resistance,
however, and she must prove her mettle in a man's world. Jack, war hero and
family man, knows that he must make a change for the sake of those he holds
dear, so when an opportunity arises that would take him back to York, he seizes
it with both hands. In London, Robert is bored with his office job and seeks
something grander. Fatherless and dealing with the repercussions of his
family's bankruptcy, he must make his own way now that he has been left to the
mercy of the world. His sister Charlotte, also frustrated with her life and
sure that she will never receive an offer of marriage, longs for something
different as well. As the years roll by, the threat of another war hangs in the
air, and when King Edward VIII takes to the throne, things seem to be on the
brink of change once more. But like a phoenix rising up from the ashes, the
Morlands prove yet again that they will emerge from whatever they must face
stronger than ever before.</span></span></div>
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<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWjI8_b_i7mSNG0c7vhZULNf2QAvl4g-otY1uaVsgP3F7jgnECKFUq-v-rmimTF_wPUkXVerVE65uB-4ETImhFWWU69VO5mpkygU5zynwkLTeeCIoC4jpzTny9oo-xOqXkiF5W4El54Q/s200/red+sky+in+the+morning.jpg" width="132" /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Red Sky in Morning by Paul Lynch (Nov 5th)</span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's
1832 and Coll Coyle has killed the wrong man. The dead man's father is
an expert tracker and ruthless killer with a single-minded focus on
vengeance. The hunt leads from the windswept bogs of County Donegal,
across the Atlantic to the choleric work camps of the Pennsylvania
railroad, where both men will find their fates in the hardship and rough
country of the fledgling United States.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNk_DK1vXyLT_HGH1X_bhyphenhyphenM-uXWiyo1P1nOZJrjlNtj6EQNCbC_DTny9ASAvOIwJvR4uPvux1gbyManQCtI482o4wm6k0Rq409aZYhnW6Z5eWOOUX54T5tpC3NraOFc4wuDHriYH0v-Lo/s159/all+girl+filling+stations+last+reunion.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNk_DK1vXyLT_HGH1X_bhyphenhyphenM-uXWiyo1P1nOZJrjlNtj6EQNCbC_DTny9ASAvOIwJvR4uPvux1gbyManQCtI482o4wm6k0Rq409aZYhnW6Z5eWOOUX54T5tpC3NraOFc4wuDHriYH0v-Lo/s200/all+girl+filling+stations+last+reunion.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The All-Girl Filling Station’s
Last Reunion by Fanny Flagg (Nov 5<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Spanning decades, generations, and America in the 1940s and
today, <i>The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion</i> is a fun-loving
mystery about an Alabama woman today, and five women who in 1943 worked in a
Phillips 66 gas station, during the WWII years. Like Fannie Flagg's classic <i>Fried
Green Tomatoes</i>, this is a riveting, fun story of two families, set in
present day America and during World War II, filled to the brim with Flagg's
trademark funny voice and storytelling magic.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZA1JbemHF8iAkE40HRpgm9FwFXliZXzSGwFMcp46fvDkaJM9UWu3bBTgIdG6S1zEPYEnQPLX0OUwiXRMufp1mgZ7Mso5Zcdpp8XWGIkZYg2IFz5mWyAIZrhKcsaLp-Nq2MBMnGCcpTQI/s1600/valley+of+amazement.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZA1JbemHF8iAkE40HRpgm9FwFXliZXzSGwFMcp46fvDkaJM9UWu3bBTgIdG6S1zEPYEnQPLX0OUwiXRMufp1mgZ7Mso5Zcdpp8XWGIkZYg2IFz5mWyAIZrhKcsaLp-Nq2MBMnGCcpTQI/s200/valley+of+amazement.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan (Nov 5th)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Moving
between the dazzling world of courtesans in turn of the century
Shanghai, a remote Chinese mountain village, and the rough-hewn streets
of nineteenth-century San Francisco, Amy Tan’s sweeping new novel maps
the lives of three generations of women connected by blood and
history—and the mystery of an evocative painting known as “The Valley of
Amazement.” Violet is one of the most celebrated courtesans in
Shanghai, a beautiful and intelligent woman who has honed her ability to
become any man’s fantasy since her start as a “Virgin Courtesan” at the
age of twelve. Half-Chinese and half-American, she moves effortlessly
between the East and the West. But her talents belie her private
struggle to understand who she really is and her search for a home in
the world. Abandoned by her mother, Lucia, and uncertain of her father’s
identity, Violet’s quest to truly love and be loved will set her on a
path fraught with danger and complexity—and the loss of her own
daughter. Lucia, a willful and wild American woman who was once herself
the proprietress of Shanghai’s most exclusive courtesan house, nurses
her own secret wounds, which she first sustained when, as a teenager,
she fell in love with a Chinese painter and followed him from San
Francisco to Shanghai. Her search for penance and redemption will bring
her to a startling reunion with Flora, Violet’s daughter, and will
shatter all that Violet believed she knew about her mother.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTrOIa75A3VkVcgWEOgRAfUul9Sz9k-TytoYK1DFbtY6XbIFtt9zwAZUtdZhE8ytWqEEDAQPsTmu3qL9SEeyie5x2qgM1Pc2E58kUZiVWqB7r-WLOxiLrBEA1JRUkvdPCPdaBE9Zv00u4/s1600/sherlock+holmes+the+will+of+the+dead.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTrOIa75A3VkVcgWEOgRAfUul9Sz9k-TytoYK1DFbtY6XbIFtt9zwAZUtdZhE8ytWqEEDAQPsTmu3qL9SEeyie5x2qgM1Pc2E58kUZiVWqB7r-WLOxiLrBEA1JRUkvdPCPdaBE9Zv00u4/s200/sherlock+holmes+the+will+of+the+dead.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Sherlock Holmes: The Will of the Dead by George Mann (Nov 5th)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
young man named Peter Maugram appears at the front door of Sherlock
Holmes and Dr Watson's Baker Street lodgings. Maugram's uncle is dead
and his will has disappeared, leaving the man afraid that he will be
left penniless. Holmes agrees to take the case and he and Watson dig
deep into the murky past of this complex family.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNkBPnK7rDgrbAgFWesK4aCWEpaGXjBFj0nKuU4jw-GcHNAfG3PeWguPSNYtaGC9Kb5Lmo5BTUgSVXJy1PaLBbS84T6vRHbTq5c1CFZwt6zoloQVA2_u6lPRzpa5spdGkMlOlslozyYOI/s1600/dollface.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNkBPnK7rDgrbAgFWesK4aCWEpaGXjBFj0nKuU4jw-GcHNAfG3PeWguPSNYtaGC9Kb5Lmo5BTUgSVXJy1PaLBbS84T6vRHbTq5c1CFZwt6zoloQVA2_u6lPRzpa5spdGkMlOlslozyYOI/s200/dollface.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #073763;"> <span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Dollface: A Novel of the Roaring Twenties by Renee Rosen (Nov 5th)</b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">During
the 1920s Chicago's speakeasies are filled with flappers and dashing
young men doing the Charleston and the Bunny Hug. They're drinking
liquor from teacups and living the good life. But while the party goes
on inside, the streets are turning deadly as Al Capone's South Side Gang
and Dion O'Banion's North Side Gang vie for control of the city's
lucrative bootlegging industry. Vera Abramowitz, a spunky young beauty
finds herself caught in a lover's triangle involving two men from rival
gangs. Shep Green is a charismatic smooth-talking gentleman who works
for Dion O'Banion and Tony Liolli is a sexy henchman for Al Capone with a
penchant for risk-taking and gambling. Set against the backdrop of
Chicago's infamous Beer Wars, Vera, her best friend Evelyn and gun molls
Basha and Dora, traverse this fast-paced world where their lives become
entangled in everything from infidelity, to bootlegging to murder. All
the while, Vera is torn between two powerful and dangerous men until the
St. Valentine's Day Massacre determines all their fates.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEl3LnEG_myU8L8KiPg6ezglz7Har30qfveCAt17Q7rOJZV62kc9Tm8S1GgZLaZHESQ_oEfT_HYI1g-2WrRIt0_1b5ZJn8AgaG8iYrQwpRT5upaFlAOoPrXfUltauB7iERP1AxBvf2GYg/s1600/blooding+of+jack+absolute.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEl3LnEG_myU8L8KiPg6ezglz7Har30qfveCAt17Q7rOJZV62kc9Tm8S1GgZLaZHESQ_oEfT_HYI1g-2WrRIt0_1b5ZJn8AgaG8iYrQwpRT5upaFlAOoPrXfUltauB7iERP1AxBvf2GYg/s200/blooding+of+jack+absolute.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Blooding of Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys (re-release Nov 5<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">London
1759 and Jack's life is easy. A scholar at Westminster School, a master
with cricket bat or billiard cue, the leader of a gang of bucks about
the Town, he has both a girl he worships ...and a courtesan teaching him
the more basic arts of love. Yet he plans to give up all carousing, sit
the examinations for Cambridge, find a career in any field he chooses.
If he can just stay out of trouble for one night... From the billiard
halls and brothels of London to a clash of Empires on the Plains of
Abraham, Jack life is forever altered by the tragedies of that night.
Through duels, battles, frantic escapes and a brutal winter spent in a
cave in Canada, Jack learns the truth of his father's words... as well
as a dozen things to do with a dead bear. A year on, the schoolboy will
vanish, a man appear. But first he must learn to kill. To come of age,
Jack Absolute must be blooded.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-94BxXfe8IWr5TTUHxUMYhISYbGh2Ba9tJ07A_T54PcVE5kqpPfrzw8AMibS96aD14kBiy9O0W51kbr9J5qGY9tAzrRKTEeTynRATMOVivTbkuIN8EoBrbcvzQoZZOUTCbNjmMimETSc/s1600/havisham.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-94BxXfe8IWr5TTUHxUMYhISYbGh2Ba9tJ07A_T54PcVE5kqpPfrzw8AMibS96aD14kBiy9O0W51kbr9J5qGY9tAzrRKTEeTynRATMOVivTbkuIN8EoBrbcvzQoZZOUTCbNjmMimETSc/s200/havisham.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Havisham
by Ronald Frame (Nov 5<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Catherine
Havisham was born into privilege. Spry, imperious, she is the daughter of a
wealthy brewer. But she is never far from the smell of hops and the arresting letters
on the brewhouse wall—HAVISHAM. A reminder of all she owes to the family name,
and the family business. Sent by her father to stay with the Chadwycks,
Catherine discovers elegant pastimes to remove the taint of her family’s new
money. But for all her growing sophistication Catherine is anything but
worldly, and when a charismatic stranger pays her attention, everything—her
heart, her future, the very Havisham name— is vulnerable. In this astounding
prelude to Charles Dickens’s classic <i>Great Expectations</i>, Ronald Frame
unfurls the psychological trauma that made young Catherine into Miss Havisham,
and cursed her to a life alone roaming the halls of the mansion in the tatters
of the dress she wore for the wedding she was never to have.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>A
Long Way from Verona by Jane Gardam (Nov 5<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">‘I ought to
tell you at the beginning that I am not quite normal having had a violent
experience at the age of nine' Jessica
Vye's 'violent experience' colors her schooldays and her reaction to the world
around her- a confining world of Order Marks, wartime restrictions, viyella
dresses, nicely-restrained essays and dusty tea shops. For Jessica she has been
told that she is 'beyond all possible doubt', a born writer. With her inability
to conform, her absolute compulsion to tell the truth and her dedication to
accurately noting her experiences, she knows this anyway. But what she doesn't
know is that the experiences that sustain and enrich her burgeoning talent will
one day lead to a new- and entirely unexpected- reality.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvRaZ5pu8YKaX7RV1Lj8eahKtpXHcum4CBLDGxvQbodqCVNhjiScQW4MFGxphKG-62y20C9j4YL0D8UQHIm_owh7qsWWvqnYusfualkoSSWKvlKxVQA4SS7X732qesekZFED27EHTBVL4/s1600/saving+mozart.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvRaZ5pu8YKaX7RV1Lj8eahKtpXHcum4CBLDGxvQbodqCVNhjiScQW4MFGxphKG-62y20C9j4YL0D8UQHIm_owh7qsWWvqnYusfualkoSSWKvlKxVQA4SS7X732qesekZFED27EHTBVL4/s200/saving+mozart.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Saving
Mozart by Raphael Jerusalmy (Nov 5<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Raphaël Jerusalmy’s
debut novel takes the form of the journal of Otto J. Steiner, a former music
critic of Jewish descent suffering from tuberculosis in a Salzburg sanatorium
in 1939. Drained by his illness and isolated in the gloomy sanatorium, Steiner
finds solace only in music. He is horrified to learn that the Nazis’ are
transforming a Mozart festival into a fascist event. Steiner feels helpless at
first, but an invitation from a friend presents him with an opportunity to
fight back. Under the guise of organizing a concert for Nazi officials, Steiner
formulates a plan to save Mozart that could dramatically change the course of
the war.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOVxjIblnLdi1Xdgwirotn5Kjr-6DCCAgrYdmDqOuS7PRghd5wfiJ3N8I06yiXa-BFEPIKlpWHg1VEcf1VeKONdqOpRIxWvazKLm9VUd1vvZjsNB9-qvpYAGzAWppdi2H74xwuSiMblj0/s1600/bellman+and+black.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOVxjIblnLdi1Xdgwirotn5Kjr-6DCCAgrYdmDqOuS7PRghd5wfiJ3N8I06yiXa-BFEPIKlpWHg1VEcf1VeKONdqOpRIxWvazKLm9VUd1vvZjsNB9-qvpYAGzAWppdi2H74xwuSiMblj0/s200/bellman+and+black.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Bellman
& Black by Diane Setterfield (Nov 5<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>Bellman
& Black</i> is a heart-thumpingly perfect ghost story,
beautifully and irresistibly written, its ratcheting tension exquisitely
calibrated line by line. Its hero is William Bellman, who, as a boy of 11,
killed a shiny black rook with a catapult, and who grew up to be someone, his
neighbours think, who "could go to the good or the bad." And indeed,
although William Bellman's life at first seems blessed--he has a happy marriage
to a beautiful woman, becomes father to a brood of bright, strong children, and
thrives in business--one by one, people around him die. And at each funeral, he
is startled to see a strange man in black, smiling at him. At first, the dead
are distant relatives, but eventually his own children die, and then his wife,
leaving behind only one child, his favourite, Dora. Unhinged by grief, William
gets drunk and stumbles to his wife's fresh grave--and who should be there
waiting, but the smiling stranger in black. The stranger has a proposition for
William--a mysterious business called "Bellman & Black"<i> .</i>
. .</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXdv_N79lo2gvoSoA0C56D065iymLJgXrZ_z2mMXwIo6IMbtX7ZrpnWI9pTY8l8F6N4YfipS5VSTrn9dKQwr26psA49KXECauF_xVftutrs2i8easrfqloyZYbF5jtXrDRjssxV28yws/s1600/emma+of+aurora.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXdv_N79lo2gvoSoA0C56D065iymLJgXrZ_z2mMXwIo6IMbtX7ZrpnWI9pTY8l8F6N4YfipS5VSTrn9dKQwr26psA49KXECauF_xVftutrs2i8easrfqloyZYbF5jtXrDRjssxV28yws/s200/emma+of+aurora.jpg" width="135" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="color: #c00000;">Emma of Aurora by Jane Kirkpatrick (Nov 5<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><i>A Clearing in the Wild</i></b><br />
When Emma’s outspoken ways and growing skepticism lead to a clash with the
1850s Bethel, Missouri colony’s beloved leader, she finds new opportunities to
pursue her dreams of independence. But as she clears a pathway West to her
truest and deepest self, she discovers something she never expected: a yearning
for the warm embrace of community.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><i>A Tendering in the Storm</i></b><br />
Determined to raise her children on her own terms, Emma suddenly finds herself
alone and pregnant with her third child, struggling to keep her family secure
in the remote coastal forest of the Washington Territory. As clouds of despair
close in, she must decide whether to continue in her own waning strength or to
humble herself and accept help from the very people she once so eagerly left
behind.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><i>A Mending at the Edge</i></b><br />
As a mother, daughter, sister, and estranged wife, Emma struggles to find her
place inside—and outside—the confines of her religious community. Emma reaches
out to others on the fringe, searching for healing and purpose. By blending her
unique talents with service to others, she creates renewed hope as she weaves
together the threads of family, friends, and faith.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlIpxSGir735R36iqZ-Uk8r8I32-0QdqkGXUETfaPNrrBtMqkGNaxHHhyphenhyphen_-BgPBGY5BwWfJ66s6yuLtE5Jv7gOgBlCqSBKok0wi8QBa8Ycr7bspfDOfb5HUkwLanEslAxlRbvn2LH0W4/s1600/boleyn+deceit.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlIpxSGir735R36iqZ-Uk8r8I32-0QdqkGXUETfaPNrrBtMqkGNaxHHhyphenhyphen_-BgPBGY5BwWfJ66s6yuLtE5Jv7gOgBlCqSBKok0wi8QBa8Ycr7bspfDOfb5HUkwLanEslAxlRbvn2LH0W4/s200/boleyn+deceit.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Boleyn Deceit by Laura Andersen (Nov 5<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The
regency period is over and William Tudor, now King Henry IX, sits alone on the
throne. But England must still contend with those who doubt his legitimacy,
both in faraway lands and within his own family. To diffuse tensions and
appease the Catholics, William is betrothed to a young princess from France,
but still he has eyes for only his childhood friend Minuette, and court tongues
are wagging. Even more scandalous—and dangerous, if discovered—is that Minuette’s heart and
soul belong to Dominic, William’s best friend and trusted advisor. Minuette must
walk a delicate balance between her two suitors, unable to confide in anyone,
not even her friend Elizabeth, William’s sister, who must contend with her own
cleaved heart. In this irresistible tale, the secrets that everyone keeps are
enough to change the course of an empire.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDWH6q_MtHz1M3E7AuEoPYk_5EniNOCXchZ70pg3MKf3h_9U33SE4q5V8Q3427BwNwuOw2_Ba8Q1xKHRg5j2_jCKcxwl-r89AJ9B9BtNz2o-eDZxZMKzf94P36W1NI99EyLCEci9W-kQ/s1600/conversation.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDWH6q_MtHz1M3E7AuEoPYk_5EniNOCXchZ70pg3MKf3h_9U33SE4q5V8Q3427BwNwuOw2_Ba8Q1xKHRg5j2_jCKcxwl-r89AJ9B9BtNz2o-eDZxZMKzf94P36W1NI99EyLCEci9W-kQ/s200/conversation.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The Conversation by Jean d’Ormesson
(Nov 6th)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Several
years after the French Revolution, in the winter of 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte
has to make a crucial decision: to keep the main ideals of the new France alive
or to elevate the country into a powerful base by making it an empire and
becoming emperor. One evening at the Tuileries Residence in Paris, Second Consul
Jean-Jacques Cambacérès, a brilliant law scholar and close ally, listens as
Napoleon struggles to determine what will be best for a country much weakened
by ten years of wars and revolutions. Torn between his revolutionary ideals and
his overwhelming longing for power, Napoleon Bonaparte declares that it can
only be achieved by his taking the throne. Bonaparte attempts to rally
Cambacérès to his cause and maps out in great detail why France must become an
empire, with him as its Emperor. The Republican hero desires only one thing: to
forge his legend during his lifetime. France has arrived at a crossroads, and
Bonaparte must break many barriers to fulfill his ambition. “An empire is a
Republic that has been enthroned,” he declares. And so, through the night,
French history is made.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5xQeF0YzL-ewEdDjSfS8v0IPrd1PVcuOvXW4cV_sXkwstmg9sLgPgOJ_gZJZEWqBdKZvG4q4R9FzH8DsU8mlC8ZEUzjCrjW9cltP8fACkbCW61FW7hQ63ybMTIlp5kd49EzkIZ2fS10E/s300/lionheart+new.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5xQeF0YzL-ewEdDjSfS8v0IPrd1PVcuOvXW4cV_sXkwstmg9sLgPgOJ_gZJZEWqBdKZvG4q4R9FzH8DsU8mlC8ZEUzjCrjW9cltP8fACkbCW61FW7hQ63ybMTIlp5kd49EzkIZ2fS10E/s200/lionheart+new.jpg" width="130" /></a><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 115%;">Lionheart by Stewart Binns (Nov 7<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Lionheart is the latest historical adventure novel from Stewart
Binns, covering the extraordinary life of King Richard the Lionheart. Richard
of Aquitaine, the third son of King Henry II, is developing a fearsome
reputation for being a ruthless warrior. Arrogant and conceited he earns the
name Richard Lionheart for his bravery and brutality on the battlefield. After
the death his brothers, Richard's impatience to take the throne, and gain the
immense power that being King over a vast empire would bring him, leads him to
form an alliance with Philip II, King of France. After invading his father's
lands on the Continent, Richard Lionheart goes on to defeat the King's army at
the tumultuous Battle of Ballans. Taking his place on the throne he begins his
bloody quest to return the Holy Land to Christian rule. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Ace,
King, Knave by Maria McCann (Nov 7<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Behind doors
is another story. Behind doors you can do what you like. Sophia - rational,
demure, and hiding a 'little weakness' - has recently married the charismatic
Mr Zedland. But Zedland has secrets of his own and Sophia comes to suspect that
her marriage is not what it seems. In cramped rooms in Covent Garden, Betsy-Ann
shuffles a pack of cards. A gambler, dealer in second-hand goods, and living
with a grave robber, her life could not be more different to Sophia's - but she
too discovers that she has been lied to. As both women take steps to discover
the truth, their lives come together through a dramatic series of events,
taking the reader through the streets of 1760s London: a city wearing a genteel
civility on its surface and rife with hypocrisy, oppression and violence
lurking underneath.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Lost Duchess by Jenny Bardem
(UK Release Nov 7<sup>th</sup></b></span>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">When Emme Fifield, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I,
meets Kit Doonan, one of Sir Francis Drake's men recently returned from the New
World, she is only too eager to join his planned expedition to Virginia - not
least to escape the scoundrel who has deflowered her. The venture offers the
rag-tag band of idealists, desperados and misfits the chance of a fresh start
in a brave new world, but the reality proves dangerous beyond their imagining.
A series of near disasters confront them early on, and Emme begins to suspect
that the expedition guide, Simon Ferdinando, might be a secret Spanish agent.
As the plight of the fledgling colony becomes increasingly desperate, she turns
to Kit Doonan. But the handsome mariner with a troubled past has his own inner
demons to confront, and a son to protect unbeknown to anyone else...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BRgX7JVfVBfrTNQWWT_hVVz3_jmPTsI0j6YUl_lp4kSWDXFdI2VNQYJYm6CaTBwqQblegHE7Ekr9Wl6gWQ8rYModW4VjJ-gVP4m72srmMAaVuZSk2jDpj7nIfg3KYab2RcbE89jZVnU/s1600/stella+bain.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BRgX7JVfVBfrTNQWWT_hVVz3_jmPTsI0j6YUl_lp4kSWDXFdI2VNQYJYm6CaTBwqQblegHE7Ekr9Wl6gWQ8rYModW4VjJ-gVP4m72srmMAaVuZSk2jDpj7nIfg3KYab2RcbE89jZVnU/s200/stella+bain.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Stella Bain by Anita Shreve (Nov 12th)</span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
a young American woman, Stella Bain, is found suffering from severe
shell shock in the exclusive garden of London's Bryanston Square,
residents August Bridge and his wife selflessly agree to take her in. A
gesture of goodwill turns into something more as Bridge, a cranial
surgeon, quickly develops a clinical interest in his houseguest. Stella
had been working as a nurse's aide in France, but she can't remember
anything prior to four months earlier when she was found wounded on a
French battlefield.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>An
Old Betrayal by Charles Finch (Nov 12<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">On a spring
morning in London, 1875, Charles Lenox agrees to take time away from his busy
schedule as a Member of Parliament to meet an old protégé’s client at Charing
Cross. But when their cryptic encounter seems to lead, days later, to the
murder of an innocuous country squire, this fast favor draws Lenox inexorably back
into his old profession. Soon he realizes that, far from concluding the murdere
r’s business, this body is only the first step in a cruel plan, many years in
the plotting. Where will he strike next? The answer, Lenox learns with slowly
dawning horror, may be at the very heart of England’s monarchy. Ranging from
the slums of London to the city’s corridors of power, the newest Charles Lenox
novel bears all of this series’ customary wit, charm, and trickery— a
compulsive escape to a different time.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4t0hRuOeAgIHNTtwArGXiICITHKtxRxlRJayUQupcjlTH34Gu45br2ywqzrLZfanWPVhf471IHQwNwyq7SFKbF5a-7oCSPhMDpZ1wnCq9TMjuneTf18jBbFil9wbZGp1OgAhMf1Akg7Q/s1600/bughouse+affair.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4t0hRuOeAgIHNTtwArGXiICITHKtxRxlRJayUQupcjlTH34Gu45br2ywqzrLZfanWPVhf471IHQwNwyq7SFKbF5a-7oCSPhMDpZ1wnCq9TMjuneTf18jBbFil9wbZGp1OgAhMf1Akg7Q/s200/bughouse+affair.jpg" width="134" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Bughouse Affair by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini (in PB Nov 12<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">In this
first of a new series of lighthearted historical mysteries set in 1890s San Francisco,
former Pinkerton operative Sabina Carpenter and her detective partner,
ex-Secret Service agent John Quincannon, undertake what initially appear to be
two unrelated investigations. Sabina’s case involves the hunt for a ruthless
lady “dip” who uses fiendish means to relieve her victims of their valuables at
Chutes Amusement Park and other crowded places. Quincannon, meanwhile, is after
a slippery housebreaker who targets the homes of wealthy residents, following a
trail that leads him from the infamous Barbary Coast to an oyster pirate’s lair
to a Tenderloin parlor house known as the Fiddle Dee Dee. The two cases
eventually connect in surprising fashion, but not before two murders and
assorted other felonies complicate matters even further. And not before the two
sleuths are hindered, assisted, and exasperated by the bughouse Sherlock
Holmes.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQ3moKNWfvXj1csSVcQwnau2fyZG2iOYKsQ36JKvDJmi5EjsQxhR0FstEddMbatwIt8RQIp0kRpe_px8aQL-zU6ueYn3UKBuk7HoZYqiACsE9FGCZ6d94t3GWR3ufAI5YQFlqbUA9XYY/s1600/hild.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQ3moKNWfvXj1csSVcQwnau2fyZG2iOYKsQ36JKvDJmi5EjsQxhR0FstEddMbatwIt8RQIp0kRpe_px8aQL-zU6ueYn3UKBuk7HoZYqiACsE9FGCZ6d94t3GWR3ufAI5YQFlqbUA9XYY/s200/hild.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Hild
by Nicola Griffin (Nov 12<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hild is born
into a world in transition. In seventh-century Britain, small kingdoms are merging,
usually violently. A new religion is coming ashore; the old gods’ priests are
worrying. Edwin of Northumbria plots to become overking of the Angles,
ruthlessly using every tool at his disposal: blood, bribery, belief. Hild is the king’s youngest niece. She has
the powerful curiosity of a bright child, a will of adamant, and a way of
seeing the world—of studying nature, of matching cause with effect, of
observing human nature and predicting what will happen next—that can seem
uncanny, even supernatural, to those around her. She establishes herself as the
king’s seer. And she is indispensable—until she should ever lead the king
astray. The stakes are life and death: for Hild, her family, her loved ones,
and the increasing numbers who seek the protection of the strange girl who can
read the world and see the future. Hild is a young woman at the heart of the
violence, subtlety, and mysticism of the early medieval age—all of it
brilliantly and accurately evoked by Nicola Griffith’s luminous prose.
Recalling such feats of historical fiction as Hilary Mantel’s <i>Wolf Hall </i>and
Sigrid Undset’s <i>Kristin Lavransdatter</i>, <i>Hild </i>brings a beautiful,
brutal world—and one of its most fascinating, pivotal figures, the girl who
would become St. Hilda of Whitby—to vivid, absorbing life.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwxk6M7Egh1oVCkIiZp02GuVGpsNWUb7l3bStdLzMzqZmx1ivEDJyOa_FAU0JLShFYv1IT7QvV8_ktcHoD4IQqyCyHDayRSv2yRnTYuo3mX8LTnfwz443FWAJB3Q2ykVTQTESjJ4JxkaE/s1600/serpent+and+the+staff.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwxk6M7Egh1oVCkIiZp02GuVGpsNWUb7l3bStdLzMzqZmx1ivEDJyOa_FAU0JLShFYv1IT7QvV8_ktcHoD4IQqyCyHDayRSv2yRnTYuo3mX8LTnfwz443FWAJB3Q2ykVTQTESjJ4JxkaE/s200/serpent+and+the+staff.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Serpent and the Staff by Barbara Wood (Nov 12<sup>th</sup>)</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>Ugarit,
Syria, 1450 B.C.E. </i>Eighteen-year-old Leah, the eldest daughter of a
wealthy
winemaker, is past the traditional age of betrothal. Vowed to wed the
wealthy
but cruel shipbuilder Jotham, Leah declines his offer of marriage after
discovering that he and his family suffer from “the falling sickness.”
Enraged
by her refusal and his ruined reputation, he blackmails Leah’s father, a
punishment forgiven only by offering Leah’s hand in marriage. With no
more options
for another suitor and no male heir for her family, Leah must seek out
the cure
for Jotham’s sickness or her family will face permanent ruin. During her
quest Leah begins to burn with desire for Daveed, the handsome
household scribe whose culture forbids their union. Daveed has been
called by
the gods to restore the Brotherhood, an elite fraternity of guardians at
the
great Library of Ugarit, rumored to contain the secret symbol of
immortality
within its ancient archives. If his plan succeeds, it may also save
Leah’s
family from disaster. But even Daveed and Leah cannot fathom the extent
of
Jotham’s sinister schemes to make Leah his bride once and for all.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRtq4ULOv0Qcrf3CAjnNQ5Sobf3DReMre1yV9o7w38VF0lCx3_JR_PPfKMwI8ZdbAln_dXOfjD5ivS27x8AazhJNM7PUIJkdLU544ubKmbDMoEpKK9oKb6YDgewbKIOC8D06oNQ2ZTius/s1600/christmas+hope.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRtq4ULOv0Qcrf3CAjnNQ5Sobf3DReMre1yV9o7w38VF0lCx3_JR_PPfKMwI8ZdbAln_dXOfjD5ivS27x8AazhJNM7PUIJkdLU544ubKmbDMoEpKK9oKb6YDgewbKIOC8D06oNQ2ZTius/s200/christmas+hope.jpg" width="137" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">A Christmas Hope by Anne Perry (Nov 12th)</span></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Claudine Burroughs, a volunteer in Hester Monk’s clinic for sick and
injured prostitutes, no longer expects closeness with her coldly ambitious
husband and dreads the holidays. Then, at a glittering yuletide gala, she meets
the attractive poet Dai Tregarron and suddenly her spirits lift. Alas, an hour
later, this fascinating man is enmeshed in a nightmare—accused of killing a
young streetwalker who had been smuggled into the party. Even though she
suspects that an upper-class clique is quickly closing ranks to protect the
real killer, Claudine and the clinic’s disreputable bookkeeper, Squeaky
Robinson, vow to do their utmost for Dai. But it seems that hypocritical London
society would rather send an innocent poet to the gallows than expose the
shocking truth about one of their own. Nevertheless, it’s the season of
miracles and Claudine and Squeaky finally see a glimmer of hope—not only for
Dai but for an innocent young woman teetering on the brink of a lifetime of
unhappiness. Anne Perry’s heartwarming new holiday novel is a celebration of
courage, faith, and love for all seasons.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNF9qxmehe4dujO12ufst9t_7N2uKIwGRVvzW1bghdIEu9LsSkVNtepZw4Fn2cHQibSPvwh91YcLIrsAg25p0Mn8910cjrHfQBTwEAks2u6NQhOoD6oU_sL7CFHV6TDzMVpjD93e1xtU/s223/Quarantine.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNF9qxmehe4dujO12ufst9t_7N2uKIwGRVvzW1bghdIEu9LsSkVNtepZw4Fn2cHQibSPvwh91YcLIrsAg25p0Mn8910cjrHfQBTwEAks2u6NQhOoD6oU_sL7CFHV6TDzMVpjD93e1xtU/s200/Quarantine.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Quarantine
by John Smolens (in PB Nov 14<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">The year is
1796, and a trading ship arrives in the vibrant trading town of Newburyport,
Massachusetts. But it's a ghost ship--her entire crew has been decimated
by a virulent fever which sweeps through the harbor town, and Newburyport's
residents start to fall ill and die with alarming haste. Something has
to be done to stop the virus from spreading further. When physician Giles
Wiggins places the port under quarantine, he earns the ire of his shipbuilder
half-brother, the wealthy and powerful Enoch Sumner, and their eccentric
mother, Miranda. Defiantly, Giles sets up a pest-house, where the afflicted
might be cared for and separated from the rest of the populace in an attempt to
contain the epidemic. As the seaport descends into panic, religious
fervor, and mob rule, bizarre occurrences ensue: the harbormaster’s
family falls victim to the fever, except for his son, Leander Hatch, who is
taken in at the Sumner mansion and a young woman, Marie Montpelier, is fished
out of the Merrimac River barely clinging to life, causing Giles and Enoch—who
is convinced she’s the expatriate daughter of the French king—to vie for her
attentions--all while medical supplies are pillaged by a black marketer from
Boston. As the epidemic grows, fear, greed, and unhinged obsession
threaten the Sumner family—and the future of Newburyport itself.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNC5_NqDxKH4X9Ht32ytR7m1nE31NkEa1tlIi-pU5rJTPdPXNeKK8LkySGWjoenVDTRS1RPQ5_M7O0oh0_I9hRSEWu9fFEopErVm4Jn6Wu2vtBaSUz75ANMMjSkqigpCN8mCy59Zv4jPU/s1600/time+of+the+wolf.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNC5_NqDxKH4X9Ht32ytR7m1nE31NkEa1tlIi-pU5rJTPdPXNeKK8LkySGWjoenVDTRS1RPQ5_M7O0oh0_I9hRSEWu9fFEopErVm4Jn6Wu2vtBaSUz75ANMMjSkqigpCN8mCy59Zv4jPU/s200/time+of+the+wolf.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Time of the Wolf: A Novel of Medieval England by
James Wilde (Nov 14<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">1062, a time many fear is the End of Days. With the English King Edward
heirless and ailing, across the grey seas in Normandy the brutal William the
Bastard waits for the moment when he can drown England in a tide of blood. The
ravens of war are gathering. But as the king's closest advisors scheme and
squabble amongst themselves, hopes of resisting the ambition of the Norman duke
come to rest with just one man: Hereward. But in his country's hour of greatest
need, his enemies at court have made him outlaw. To stay alive—and a free
man—he must carve a bloody swathe from the frozen lands outside the court. The
tale of a man whose deeds will become the stuff of legend, this is also the
story of two mismatched allies: Hereward the man of war, and Alric, a man of
peace, a monk. One will risk everything to save the land he loves, the other to
save his friend's soul . . .</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAxp8rFsMfRW07N9novfyFeGh-sq00CXO29zd5V25DCFT_pV3lIxLpxtZkPfMzgfkGW5jaUlg-c1aJavC83B9TTL9GBwVfBmNm1IXs5OzqvuFm1FDJFlP3nn-IpBx0DPdD6TrAH5JxLXI/s1600/first+of+july.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAxp8rFsMfRW07N9novfyFeGh-sq00CXO29zd5V25DCFT_pV3lIxLpxtZkPfMzgfkGW5jaUlg-c1aJavC83B9TTL9GBwVfBmNm1IXs5OzqvuFm1FDJFlP3nn-IpBx0DPdD6TrAH5JxLXI/s200/first+of+july.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The First
of July: A Novel by Elizabeth Speller (Nov 14<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">On July 1st, 1913, four very different men are leading four very different
lives. Exactly three years later, it is just after seven in the morning, and
there are a few seconds of peace as the guns on the Somme fall silent and larks
soar across the battlefield, singing as they fly over the trenches. What
follows is a day of catastrophe in which Allied casualties number almost one
hundred thousand. A horror that would have been unimaginable in pre-war Europe
and England becomes a day of reckoning, where their lives will change forever,
for Frank, Benedict, Jean-Batiste, and Harry. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABVggbUM7qqc4xbFzLgfSz9X0KKn7lQHHCiaOrRaQPGNOki7FfNno12fSZgWixp9V5zm9tFe82DCeXUuQYAtfXaLD50WpYSI33BuiaLfu1F3etbINqCveMuFvGn5R285hJaWXZ07JwQM/s1600/winter+warrior.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABVggbUM7qqc4xbFzLgfSz9X0KKn7lQHHCiaOrRaQPGNOki7FfNno12fSZgWixp9V5zm9tFe82DCeXUuQYAtfXaLD50WpYSI33BuiaLfu1F3etbINqCveMuFvGn5R285hJaWXZ07JwQM/s200/winter+warrior.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The Winter
Warrior: A Novel of Medieval England by James Wilde (Nov 14<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">1067. Following the devastating destruction of the Battle of Hastings,
William the Bastard and his men have descended on England. Villages are
torched; men, women and children are put to the sword as the Norman king
attempts to impose his cruel will upon this unruly nation. But there is one who
stands in the way of the invader's savagery. He is called Hereward. He is a
warrior and master tactician and as adept at battle as the imposter who sits
upon the throne. And he is England's last hope. In a Fenlands fortress of water
and wild wood, Hereward's resistance is simmering. His army of outcasts grows
by the day—a devil's army that emerges out of the mists and the night, leaving
death in its wake. But William is not easily cowed. Under the command of his
ruthless deputy, Ivo Taillebois—the man they call 'the Butcher'—the Norman
forces will do whatever it takes to crush the rebels, even if it means razing
England to the ground. Here then is the tale of the bloodiest rebellion England
has ever known—the beginning of an epic struggle that will change England
forever.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGV3X6_hzNsSB_1OtnnZSUpzqxEddiQzPjoCjKW6WYCUVS_2hhDUJG5x9f33NcetzMrFIRfK5BRfL02AsJ7MQNTSr6Vno-ihU0lXYnQ92jFPF6dHGk2k45RvIFReXywN9tvt7FRXgbMo/s1600/elegant+solution.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGV3X6_hzNsSB_1OtnnZSUpzqxEddiQzPjoCjKW6WYCUVS_2hhDUJG5x9f33NcetzMrFIRfK5BRfL02AsJ7MQNTSr6Vno-ihU0lXYnQ92jFPF6dHGk2k45RvIFReXywN9tvt7FRXgbMo/s200/elegant+solution.jpg" width="126" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>An Elegant Solution by Paul Robertson (Nov 19<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">For
young Leonhard Euler, the Bernoulli family have been more than just
friends. Master Johann has been a demanding mentor, and his sons have
been Leonhard's allies and companions. But it is also a family torn by
jealousy and distrust. Father and sons are engaged in a ruthless
competition for prestige among the mathematical elites of Europe,
especially the greatest prize: the Chair of Mathematics at the
University of Basel, which Johann holds and his sons want. And now,
their aspirations may have turned deadly. Lured into an investigation of
the suspicious death of Uncle Jacob twenty years ago, Leonhard soon
realizes there's more at stake than even a prominent appointment.
Surrounded by the most brilliant--and cunning--minds of his generation,
Leonhard is forced to see how dangerous his world is. His studies in
mathematics have always been entwined with his thoughts on theology, and
now, caught in a deadly battle of wills, he'll need both his genius and
his faith to survive.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses: A Mystery by Catriona McPherson (Nov 19th)</b></span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Before
she was a detective, before she was a reluctant wife and distracted
mother, before she was even a debutante, Dandy Gilver spent one perfect
summer with the Lipscotts of Pereford. The golden memories of it have
sustained her through many a cold snap in Perthshire. So when two of the
Lipscott sisters beg her to help the third, she can hardly refuse.
Sweet, pretty Fleur Lipscott: where is she now? The astonishing answer
to this is that Fleur - still Miss Lipscott, indeed more Miss Lipscott
than ever - is buried alive in the tiny seaside village of Portpatrick,
working as a schoolmistress at St Columba's College for Young Ladies.
But she is one of the few remaining, for St Columba's has been shedding
mistresses as a snake its skins and the exodus is far from over. With
mistresses vanishing and corpses mounting up, can Mrs Gilver, detective,
pass herself off as Miss Gilver, English mistress, to solve the one and
stop the other?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Ashenden
by Elizabeth Wilhide (in PB Nov 19<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>“The house
contains time. Its walls hold stories. Births and deaths, comings and goings,
people and events passing through. . . . For now, however, it lies suspended in
a kind of emptiness, as if it has fallen asleep or someone has put it under a
spell. This silence won’t last: can’t last. Something will have to be done.”</i> When brother and sister
Charlie and Ros discover that they have inherited their aunt’s grand English
country house, they must decide if they should sell it. As they survey the
effects of time on the estate’s architectural treasures, a narrative spanning
two and a half centuries unfolds. We meet those who built the house, lived in
it and loved it, worked in it, and those who would subvert it to their own
ends. Each chapter is skillfully woven into the others so that the storylines
of the upstairs and downstairs characters and their relatives and descendants
intertwine to make a rich tapestry.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra (in PB Nov 19th)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
mysterious stranger known as 'The Wolf' leaves an infant with the
sisters of Santo Spirito. A tiny silver key hidden in her wrappings is
the only clue to the child's identity and so begins a story as
intriguing and beautiful as the city of Florence itself. Belinda
Alexandra's new novel, Tuscan Rose, is set in Italy during the time of
Mussolini. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3EFc0KeEKefwQrmn2ynMUq7TLQ1qnhbBS2e72QXsh_I9lktxEvhWOgWX1yez09FiXP1IEX_IDtLMRyoY8s4_QjlyoYvIKervnGxo3px_sivX827476IT_aOnjaJurLx1n2ur_x8wyRUs/s1600/aviator's+wife+pb.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3EFc0KeEKefwQrmn2ynMUq7TLQ1qnhbBS2e72QXsh_I9lktxEvhWOgWX1yez09FiXP1IEX_IDtLMRyoY8s4_QjlyoYvIKervnGxo3px_sivX827476IT_aOnjaJurLx1n2ur_x8wyRUs/s200/aviator's+wife+pb.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie
Benjamin (in PB Nov 26<sup>th</sup>)</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the
U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her,
including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the
spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations,
travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets
Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the
Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain
the aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong. Charles sees
in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed
forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Hounded by adoring crowds
and hunted by an insatiable press, Charles shields himself and his new bride
from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows.
In the years that follow, despite her own major achievements—she becomes the
first licensed female glider pilot in the United States—Anne is viewed merely
as the aviator’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring
heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love
and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite
possibilities for change and happiness.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Death Comes to the
Village by Catherine Lloyd (Nov 26<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> When Major Robert Kurland returns
badly wounded from the battlefields of France, he is completely confined to bed. One
night he spies a mysterious figure near the parish church carrying a heavy load, and
suspects foul play. Reluctant to share his experience with his staff, he turns to an old
childhood acquaintance, Miss Lucy Harrington, the Rector’s daughter. When Lucy
mentions the recent disappearance of two young serving girls, Robert wonders if
one of the girls has met with a terrible end. As they struggle to solve the
mystery, the unlikely pair find themselves revealing far more to each other
than they had ever imagined. But setting a trap to force a confession out of
the suspected murderer will put them both in mortal danger...</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates (in PB Nov 26<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Princeton,
New Jersey, at the turn of the twentieth century: a tranquil place to
raise a family, a genteel town for genteel souls. But something dark and
dangerous lurks at the edges of the town, corrupting and infecting its
residents. Vampires and ghosts haunt the dreams of the innocent. A
powerful curse besets the elite families of Princeton; their daughters
begin disappearing. A young bride on the verge of the altar is seduced
and abducted by a dangerously compelling man–a shape-shifting, vaguely
European prince who might just be the devil, and who spreads his curse
upon a richly deserving community of white Anglo-Saxon privilege. And in
the Pine Barrens that border the town, a lush and terrifying underworld
opens up.When the bride's brother sets out against all odds to find
her, his path will cross those of Princeton's most formidable people,
from Grover Cleveland, fresh out of his second term in the White House
and retired to town for a quieter life, to soon-to-be commander in chief
Woodrow Wilson, president of the university and a complex individual
obsessed to the point of madness with his need to retain power; from the
young Socialist idealist Upton Sinclair to his charismatic comrade Jack
London, and the most famous writer of the era, Samuel Clemens/Mark
Twain–all plagued by "accursed" visions.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1j5rcVrgTIYb2NBkiNwcP-7GlFFWYUJSfSMMLBsG168SjZgmpGqtWal2J_YfXdzCiytpn0tw0TxGvDs-1kHbwRo3BpKBvSi174yA9CDTfoWHI2mG7CIZ7sCTcGzq75GRn6TosbGxa-o/s1600/pursuit+of+mary+bennet.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1j5rcVrgTIYb2NBkiNwcP-7GlFFWYUJSfSMMLBsG168SjZgmpGqtWal2J_YfXdzCiytpn0tw0TxGvDs-1kHbwRo3BpKBvSi174yA9CDTfoWHI2mG7CIZ7sCTcGzq75GRn6TosbGxa-o/s200/pursuit+of+mary+bennet.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Pamela Mingle (Nov 26<sup>th</sup>)</b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">For
most of her life Mary Bennet has been an object of ridicule. With a
notable absence of the social graces, she has been an embarrassment to
her family on more than one occasion. But lately, Mary has changed.
She's matured and attained a respectable, if somewhat unpolished,
decorum. But her peace and contentment are shattered when her sister
Lydia turns up-very pregnant and separated from Wickham. Mary and Kitty
are bustled off to stay with Jane and her husband. It is there that Mary
meets Henry Walsh, whose attentions confound her. Unschooled in the
game of love, her heart and her future are at risk. Is she worthy of
love or should she take the safer path? In her journey of
self-acceptance, she discovers the answer.</span></span><br />
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-39757799099380772542013-09-06T09:00:00.000-04:002013-09-06T09:00:10.510-04:00REVIEW: A Fatal Likeness by Lynn Sheperd<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Synopsis:</b> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><span id="freeText7867642815157542723">In the dying days of
1850 the young detective Charles Maddox takes on a new case. His client?
The only surviving son of the long-dead poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and
his wife Mary, author of Frankenstein. Charles soon finds himself
being drawn into the bitter battle being waged over the poet’s literary
legacy, but then he makes a chance discovery that raises new doubts
about the death of Shelley’s first wife, Harriet, and he starts to
question whether she did indeed kill herself, or whether what really
happened was far more sinister than suicide.<br /><br />As he’s drawn deeper
into the tangled web of the past, Charles discovers darker and more
disturbing secrets, until he comes face to face with the terrible
possibility that his own great-uncle is implicated in a conspiracy to
conceal the truth that stretches back more than thirty years. The
story of the Shelleys is one of love and death, of loss and betrayal.
In this follow-up to the acclaimed Tom-All-Alone’s, Lynn Shepherd offers
her own fictional version of that story, which suggests new and
shocking answers to mysteries that still persist to this day, and have
never yet been fully explained.</span></i></span><br />
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<b>My Thoughts</b>: My knowledge about Percy Bysshe Shelley before picking up A Fatal Likeness-the second Charles Maddox book-was that he was a very famous poet and part of a group of poets known as the romantics during the late 18th century. That is about it. Since I am not much of a poetry person I have never read his work. It seems though, that Shelley's actual life contained more drama and scandal than any modern day soap opera could come up with. It is this turbulent world that Charles Maddox is plunged into when he is hired by Shelley's only surviving son to retrieve important documents concerning the troubled poet. It is in the course of his investigations that Charles discovers evidence that Shelley's first wife may not have committed suicide. As Charles delves deeper into Percy Shelley's life he uncovers more shocking tidbits including the revelation that his own uncle may have been involved in some unfortunate dealing with this family.<br />
<br />
I really struggled with the first half of this book. I'm not sure if it was my lack of familiarity with the subject matter or the possibly the writing style itself that took me some time to get used to. One big issue is that part of the story takes place in 1850 with Charles and Percy's son and part of it flashes back to events in 1814. Characters in both time periods are referred to as Mrs. Shelley and the father/son share the same name. This became an issue because I did not read the book in one sitting so when I would put the book down and come back to it I would get very confused on which time period and which set of characters I was dealing with when I would come back to the book.<br />
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The good thing about this book was you can tell a great deal of research went into it and the way the author describes the setting and creates the atmosphere of the novel is fantastic. While I may have struggled in the first half of the book as the story slowly played out and I became more invested in Shelley and more importantly the women he surrounded himself with-first wife Harriet, second wife Mary and her half sister Claire-the going got easier and I found myself eager to continue the story. There are several plot twists and surprises in the latter half of the novel. <br />
<br />
For those who do know a thing or two about the Shelley's (unlike me) the portrayal of Mary Shelley in this novel might be unnerving as it paints her in a seriously unflattering light. I guess it was easier for me to overlook this as I know next to nothing about the people this book is about. I do know that from his twisted love life to his radical politics and his occasional visits to crazy town in this novel, Percy Bysshe Shelley makes for one interesting character. I think this novel would be better suited to those who do know something about the romantics and the Shelleys in particular but for those who are not it could be a fair read if you stick with it. Personally when I read a book I don't like to have to maintain the level of focus it took to keep everything straight and it seriously impeded my enjoyment of the novel until the darker elements began to be revealed and it started to hold my attention better.<br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><i><b>This book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley. These are my honest thoughts on the book. </b></i></span><br />
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<br />Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-7571786640744999062013-09-05T21:01:00.000-04:002013-09-05T21:01:18.364-04:00Challenge Complete!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, I thought this one would be the easiest challenge of the year since I usually read historical fiction and around 80 books a year. Well I have had A LOT going on this year so here it is September and I have finally finished the 25 books for this challenge. As this is probably the only challenge I started that I will actually finish this year I'm super happy to have completed this. <b>WOO HOO! </b><br />
<br />Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7992163265449490403.post-67188197840328330112013-09-04T10:00:00.000-04:002013-09-04T10:00:05.427-04:00REVIEW: Royal Mistress by Anne Easter Smith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Synopsis: </b><span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jane Lambert, the quick-witted and alluring daughter of a silk merchant,
is twenty-two and still unmarried. When Jane’s father finally finds her
a match, she’s married off to the dull, older silk merchant William
Shore. Marriage doesn’t stop Jane from flirtation, however, and when the
king’s chamberlain, Will Hastings, comes to her husband’s shop, Will
knows King Edward will find her irresistible. </span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Edward IV has
everything: power, majestic bearing, superior military leadership, a
sensual nature, and charisma. And with Jane as his mistress, he also
finds true happiness. But when his hedonistic tendencies get in the way
of being the strong leader England needs, his life, as well as those of
Jane and Will Hastings, hangs in the balance. Jane must rely on her
talents to survive as the new monarch, Richard III, bent on reforming
his brother’s licentious court, ascends the throne. </span></i></span><br />
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<b>My Thoughts:</b> I have read my fair share of War of the Roses historical fiction but one subject I had not previously delved into was the life of any of Edward IV's mistresses. Here Anne Easter Smith takes on Jane Lambert-dubbed the merriest mistress of the lot. Having read and enjoyed two of Anne's other novels (A Rose for the Crown and Queen by Right) I knew what to expect going in-a hefty book that meticulously covers the time period and features a likable female character who you quickly become comfortable sharing a journey through history with. Jane Lambert definitely fits that description as you cannot help but like her and feel pity for her circumstances throughout the novel.<br />
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She is a woman who is beautiful, smart, lively-a lady who fortune smiles upon but who is forced to make difficult decisions in the interest of self preservation due to the time period she lived in. Here is someone who is forced into a loveless marriage, catches the eye of the most powerful man in the land and others in positions of power as well, and becomes well loved due to her generosity and amiable nature. As Jane is to learn when one attains such a lofty position, jealousy ensues and it is easy to attract enemies. The novel covers well known happenings during the time period including the mystery of the Princes in the tower and the issue of their legitimacy and as with the previous two novels I've read by this author, it paints Richard III in a much more favorable light. While I liked Jane a great deal at times I thought she was too kind/generous/vulnerable for her own good. I also could not figure out her inexplicable attraction to Thomas Grey, son of Elizabeth Woodville. Given his actions in the novel I couldn't figure out how she pined for this man for so long and didn't see the true nature of his character. She seemed smart in every other respect except this one. I guess everyone has their Achilles' heel. <br />
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What I do love most about this author's novels is that she takes characters that are footnotes in a much covered historical period and uses them to offer a unique perspective on that time and the people in it. I feel like these untouchable royal figures become so much more real to me. Don't let the size of the book stop you from picking this up. Once you become immersed in Jane's story you'll be surprised at how fast you fly through the pages.<br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><i><b>This book was provided to me by the publisher for review via NetGalley. These are my honest thoughts on the book.</b></i></span>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819241852604884460noreply@blogger.com1