Author: Miller, Tim, 1981- author. Published: 2022 Call Number: 324.2734 Format: Books Summary: "An account of a former Republican political activist's horror as the party he loves becomes the party of Trump"-- Former Republican political operative Tim Miller answers the question no one else has fully grappled with: Why did normal people go along with the worst of Trumpism? As one of the strategists behind the famous 2012 RNC "autopsy," Miller conducts his own forensic study on the pungent carcass of the party he used to love, cutting into all the hubris, ambition, idiocy, desperation, and self-deception for everyone to see. In a bracingly honest reflection on both his own past work for the Republican Party and the contortions of his former peers in the GOP establishment, Miller draws a straight line between the actions of the 2000s GOP to the Republican political class's Trumpian takeover, including the horrors of January 6th. From ruminations on the mental jujitsu that allowed him as a gay man to justify becoming a hitman for homophobes, to astonishingly raw interviews with former colleagues who jumped on the Trump Train, Miller diagrams the flattering and delusional stories GOP operatives tell themselves so they can sleep at night. With a humorous touch he reveals Reince Priebus' neediness, Sean Spicer's desperation, Elise Stefanik and Chris Christie's raw ambition, and his close friends' submission to a MAGA psychosis. Why We Did It is a vital, darkly satirical warning that all the narcissistic justifications that got us to this place still thrive within the Republican party, which means they will continue to make the same mistakes and political calculations that got us here, with disastrous consequences for the nation.
Author: Macomber, Debbie, author. Published: 2022 Call Number: F MACOMBER Format: Books Summary: "When a woman alone in the world bravely chooses to open her heart, two lost souls have a new chance at belonging, in this intimate novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber. A new beginning in charming Oceanside, Washington is exactly what Hope Godwin needs after the death of her twin brother. There are plenty of distractions, like her cozy cottage with the slightly nosy landlords next door, and a brewing drama among her students at the local high school. Despite having settled quickly into the community, something is still missing for Hope. That is, until her landlord convinces her to volunteer at his animal shelter. There she meets Shadow, a rescue dog that everyone has given up on. But true to her name, Hope believes he's worth saving. Like Shadow, shelter volunteer Cade Lincoln, Jr. is suffering with injuries most can't see. A wounded ex-marine, Cade identifies with Shadow, assuming they are both beyond help. Hope senses that what they each need is someone to believe in them, and she has a lot of love to give. As she gains Shadow's trust, Hope notices Cade begin to open up as well. Finding the courage to be vulnerable again, Cade and Hope take steps toward a relationship and Hope finally begins to feel at peace in her new home. But Hope's new happiness is put to the test when Cade's past conflicts resurface and Hope becomes embroiled in the escalating situation at the high school. Love and compassion are supposed to heal all wounds. But are they enough to help Hope and Cade overcome the pain of their past and the obstacles in the way of a better future?"--
Author: Mead, Walter Russell, author. Published: 2022 Call Number: 327.73 Format: Books Summary: "A groundbreaking work that overturns the conventional understanding of the Israeli-American relationship and, in doing so, explores how fundamental debates about American identity drive our country's foreign policy"-- "In this bold, clarifying book, Wall Street Journal columnist Walter Russell Mead demolishes the myths that have misled Zionists and anti-Zionists over the years, while underlining just how special the connection among the United States, Israel, and the Jewish people has become... With original analysis and lively prose, Mead illuminates the place of Israel in American foreign policy, investigates the changing politics around the U.S.-Israel relationship, and unlocks the connection between that relationship and the upheavals reshaping American life." --Front jacket flap
Author: Kander, Jason, author. Published: 2022 Call Number: B KANDER Format: Books Summary: From political wunderkind and former army intelligence officer Jason Kander comes a haunting, powerful memoir about politics, PTSD, impossible choices--and how sometimes walking away from the chance of a lifetime can be the greatest decision of all. In 2017, President Obama, in his final Oval Office interview, was asked who gave him hope for the future of the country, and Jason Kander was the first name he mentioned. Suddenly, Jason was a national figure. As observers assumed he was preparing a run for the presidency, Jason announced a bid for mayor of Kansas City instead and was headed for a landslide victory. But after eleven years battling PTSD from his service in Afghanistan, Jason was seized by depression and suicidal thoughts. He dropped out of the mayor's race and out of public life. And finally, he sought help. In this brutally honest second memoir, following his New York Times best-selling debut Outside the Wire, Jason Kander has written the book he himself needed in the most painful moments of his PTSD. In candid, in-the-moment detail, we see him struggle with undiagnosed illness during a presidential bid; witness his family buoy him through challenging treatment; and, giving hope to so many of us, see him heal.
Author: Kaplan, Robert D., 1952- author. Published: 2022 Call Number: 909.0982 Format: Books Summary: "In this insightful travelogue, geopolitical expert Robert Kaplan turns his perceptive eye to the Adriatic Sea, a region that has always been a crossroads in trade, culture, and ideas. Kaplan undertakes a journey through Italy and the Balkan countries lining the Adriatic to reveal much more to the region than news stories about resurgent populism or the refugee crisis let on. As he travels, the stark truth emerges that the age of populism is merely an epiphenomenon--a swan song for the age of nationalism itself--and that the future of Europe lies in a different direction entirely as he observes a breaking down of the distinctions between east and west, a return to alignments of an earlier era. Traveling the coastline from Italy to Slovenia and Croatia, to Montenegro to Albania and to Greece, he engages perceptive cultural criticism and an urgent study of Europe as a whole, seen through the lens of these countries. He finds clues to what the future may hold in history as he reflects on contemporary issues like the refugee crisis, the return of populist nationalism, battles over the control of fossil fuel resources, and how the Adriatic will once again be a global trading hub as it is set to be connected to China's Belt and Road initiative. With a cross-pollination of history, literature, art, architecture, and current events along with a map and photographs throughout, Kaplan demonstrates how Europe is distilled within the geography of the Adriatic, an often-overlooked region rich with answers and insights about the fate of the continent"--
Author: Koontz, Dean R. (Dean Ray), 1945- author. Published: 2022 Call Number: F KOONTZ Format: Books Summary: Drawn to a Montana homestead and to a strange childhood companion she'd long forgotten, Joanna Chase and others converge on this remote ranch where a madman lurks with a vision to save the future through murder, forcing them all to come together to save themselves--and humanity. As a girl, Joanna Chase thrived on Rustling Willows Ranch in Montana until tragedy upended her life. Now thirty-four and living in Santa Fe with only misty memories of the past, she begins to receive pleas--by phone, through her TV, in her dreams: I am in a dark place, Jojo. Please come and help me. Heeding the disturbing appeals, Joanna is compelled to return to Montana, and to a strange childhood companion she had long forgotten. She isn't the only one drawn to the Montana farmstead. People from all walks of life have converged at the remote ranch. They are haunted, on the run, obsessed, and seeking answers to the same omniscient danger Joanna came to confront. All the while, on the outskirts of Rustling Willows, a madman lurks with a vision to save the future. Mass murder is the only way to see his frightening manifesto come to pass. Through a bizarre twist of seemingly coincidental circumstances, a band of strangers now find themselves under Montana's big dark sky. Their lives entwined, they face an encroaching horror. Unless they can defeat this threat, it will spell the end for humanity.
Author: Wynne, Phoebe, author. Published: 2022 Call Number: F WYNNE Format: Books Summary: "Phoebe Wynne's The Ruins is a suspenseful, feminist Gothic coming-of-age tale with shades of Patricia Highsmith, Rebecca, and Atonement, pitched against the sun-soaked backdrop of a summer holiday on the French Riviera. Welcome to the Chateau des Sètes, a jewel of the Cote d'Azur, where long summer days bring ease, glamour, and decadence to the holidaymakers who can afford it. Ruby Ashby adores her parents' house in France, but this August, everything feels different. Unexpected guests have descended upon the chateau--friends of her parents, and their daughters--and they are keen to enjoy the hot, extravagant summer holiday to its fullest potential. Far from England, safe in their wealth and privilege, the adults revel in bad behavior without consequence, while the girls are treated as playthings or abandoned to their own devices. But despite languid days spent poolside and long nights spent drinking, a simmering tension is growing between the families, and the sanctuary that Ruby cherishes soon starts to feel like a gilded cage. Over two decades later the chateau is for sale, its days of splendor and luxury long gone, leaving behind a terrible history and an ugly legacy. A young widow has returned to France, wanting to purchase the chateau, despite her shocking memories of what transpired that fateful summer. But there is another person who is equally haunted by the chateau, and who also seeks to reclaim it. Who will set the chateau free--and who will become yet another of its victims? With riveting psychological complexity, The Ruins captures the glittering allure of the Mediterranean--and the dark shadows that wait beneath the surface"--
Author: Denton, Sally, author. Published: 2022 Call Number: 364.152 Format: Books Summary: "A shocking massacre in 2019 sparks a probing investigation into the strange, violent history of a polygamist Mormon outpost in Mexico. A harmless, unassuming caravan of women and children was ambushed by masked gunmen in northern Mexico on November 4, 2019. In a massacre that produced international headlines, nine people were killed and five others gravely injured. The victims were members of the La Mora and LeBaron communities-fundamentalist Mormons whose forebears broke from the LDS Church and settled in Mexico when polygamy was outlawed. In The Colony, the best-selling investigative journalist Sally Denton picks up where initial reporting on the killings left off, and in the process tells the violent history of the LeBaron clan and their homestead, from the first polygamist emigration to Mexico in the 1880s to the LeBarons' internal blood feud in the 1970s to the family's recent alliance with the NXIVM sex cult. Drawing on sources within Colonia LeBaron itself, Denton creates a mesmerizing work of investigative journalism in the tradition of Under the Banner of Heaven and Going Clear"--
Author: Riley, Vanessa, author. Published: 2022 Call Number: F RILEY Format: Books Summary: "Queen of diverse historicals Vanessa Riley brings readers a vivid, sweeping novel of the Haitian Revolution based on the true-life stories of two extraordinary women: the first Empress of Haiti, Marie-Claire Bonheur, and Gran Toya, a West African-born warrior who helped lead the rebellion that drove out the French and freed the enslaved people of Haiti"-- Acclaimed author of Island Queen, Vanessa Riley, brings readers a vivid, sweeping novel of the Haitian Revolution based on the true-life stories of two extraordinary women: the first Empress of Haiti, Marie-Claire Bonheur, and Gran Toya, a West African-born warrior who helped lead the rebellion that drove out the French and freed the enslaved people of Haiti.
Author: Worth, Lenora, author. Published: 2022 2021 Call Number: LP F WORTH Format: Large print Summary: "Running a historic Inn on beautiful Shadow Lake is a satisfying life for the Amish King sisters. Until love stirs a longing for more... When Abigail King stumbles upon a man lying on the beach near her family inn, her every instinct says to help the stranger. With his memory gone, "Jonah" is reluctant to contact the authorities, so Abigail offers him shelter, despite her sisters' reservations. As she nurses him back to health, Abigail helps him recover his lost past, creating a quilt from images of the shattered fragments he recalls. But with every square Abigail adds, she wonders if she is falling for a man who can never truly be hers . . . Jonah feels at home at The Shadow Lake Inn with the lovely Abigail, at peace with the Amish lifestyle she lives. But as the pieces of his past are sewn together, the mystery only deepens--until he knows the only way forward is to turn himself in to the police, to finally discover the truth of who he really is. For the one thing worse than not knowing his past, is not knowing what the future holds for him and Abigail"--
Author: Simms, Brendan, author. McGregor, Steve, 1981- author. Published: 2022 Call Number: 940.54 SIMMS Format: Books Summary: "The stunning and decisive battle of Midway was perhaps the most crucial naval battle in the Pacific theater during World War II. Walter Lord explained away the US victory at Midway against a numerically superior and apparently more skilled Japanese fleet due to 'Lady Luck.' In The Silver Waterfall acclaimed historian Brendan Simms and historian and military veteran Steve McGregor show it was no such thing. Luck had little to do with it. Instead the authors show how the forces of industrial dynamism and innovation were central to the US being able to win the war in the Pacific. Engineers, machinists, test pilots, and a willingness to experiment at scale were vital to the creation of the decisive element that would sink the hopes of Japan along with the pride of their aircraft carrier fleet: the Douglas Dauntless Dive Bomber dive bomber, whose vicious near vertical plummet from the sky to deliver a brutally accurate attack was the "silver waterfall" that the Japanese quickly came to dread. In a few deadly minutes they changed the course of the war in the Pacific. Equally important, the Navy drew on the skills of a wide variety of immigrants or descendants of immigrants--especially those from Germany, the principal hostile power. The engineer who designed the plane which decided the Battle of Midway was Ed Heinemann, the strategist who decided America would defend Midway Island was Chester Nimitz; and the pilot who symbolized American performance on the day was Dusty Kleiss. Without these men, America could not have designed, planned, or done what was needed to win. The Silver Waterfall offers a revelatory new history of Midway, showing that if the Americans were lucky, they made their own luck"--
Author: Shipnuck, Alan, 1973- author. Published: 2022 Call Number: B MICKELSO Format: Books Summary: In this raw, uncensored, and unauthorized biography of the legendary golf champion, a longtime Sports Illustrated writer delves deeply into all the rumors and controversies that have dogged Phil Mickelson throughout his career, while celebrating his random acts of kindness and generosity of spirit. "Phil Mickelson is one of the most compelling figures in sports. For more than three decades he has been among the best golfers in the world, and his unmatched longevity was exemplified at the 2021 PGA Championship, when Mickelson, on the cusp of turning fifty-one, became the oldest player in history to win a major championship. In this raw, uncensored, and unauthorized biography, Alan Shipnuck captures a singular life defined by thrilling victories, crushing defeats, and countless controversies. Mickelson is a multifaceted character, and all his warring impulses are on display in these pages: He is a smart-ass who built an empire on being the consummate professional; a loving husband dogged by salacious rumors; a high-stakes gambler who knows the house always wins but can't tear himself away. Mickelson's career and public image have been defined by the contrast with his lifelong rival, Tiger Woods. Where Woods is robotic and reticent, Mickelson is affable and extroverted, an incorrigible showman whom many fans love and some abhor because of the overwhelming size of his personality. In their early years together on Tour, Mickelson lacked Tiger's laser focus and discipline, leading Tida Woods to call her son's rival "the fat boy," among other put-downs. Yet as Tiger's career has been curtailed by scandal, addiction, and a broken body, Phil sails on, still relevant on the golf course and in the marketplace" --
Author: Fesperman, Dan, 1955- author. Published: 2022 Call Number: F FESPERMA Format: Books Summary: "Winter Work is an exhilarating spy thriller set in East Germany after the fall of Berlin Wall, about a Stasi officer investigating the murder of a colleague who is helped by Claire Saylor. Emil Grimm, a Stasi colonel, has decamped to his dacha in the woods outside of Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall. On a walk one morning, he discovers the body of a fellow intelligence officer with whom he was involved in a clandestine mission. Now Emil is forced to pick up the pieces of their plan and follow through alone while under the newfound scrutiny of his colleagues. Soon Emil is connected with CIA agent Claire Saylor who is on the ground in Berlin to collect what she can of the valuable intelligence that has been freed up because of the chaotic government transition to unify Germany. As they delve deeper into the world of the murdered officer, it becomes clear that there are secrets deeper than either of them can imagine, and that while the rules of the game have begun to change, the stakes of the Cold War are still high"--
Author: Baldacci, David, author. Published: 2022 Call Number: LP F BALDACCI Format: Large print Summary: "A cryptic murder pulls a former soldier turned financial analyst deep into the corruption and menace that prowl beneath the opulent world of finance"-- Every day without fail, Travis Devine puts on a cheap suit, grabs his faux-leather briefcase, and boards the 6:20 commuter train to Manhattan, where he works as an entry-level analyst at the city's most prestigious investment firm. In the mornings, he gazes out the train window at the lavish homes of the uberwealthy, dreaming about joining their ranks. In the evenings, he listens to the fiscal news on his phone, already preparing for the next grueling day in the cutthroat realm of finance. Then one morning Devine's tedious routine is shattered by an anonymous email: She is dead. Sara Ewes, Devine's coworker and former girlfriend, has been found hanging in a storage room of his office building--presumably a suicide, at least for now--prompting the NYPD to come calling on him. If that wasn't enough, before the day is out, Devine receives another ominous visit, a confrontation that threatens to dredge up grim secrets from his past in the army unless he participates in a clandestine investigation into his firm. This treacherous role will take him from the impossibly glittering lives he once saw only through a train window, to the darkest corners of the country's economic halls of power...where something rotten lurks. And apart from this high-stakes conspiracy, there's a killer out there with their own agenda, and Devine is the bull's-eye.
Author: Harvey, Kristy Woodson, author. Published: 2022 Call Number: LP F HARVEY Format: Large print Summary: "Four women. One family heirloom. A secret connection that will change their lives...and history as they know it. Present Day: Julia Baxter's wedding veil, bequeathed to her great-grandmother by a mysterious woman on a train in the 1930s, has passed through generations of her family as a symbol of a happy marriage. But on the morning of her wedding day, something tells Julia that even the veil's good luck isn't enough to make her marriage last forever. Overwhelmed and panicked, she escapes to the Virgin Islands to clear her head. Meanwhile, her grandmother Babs is also feeling shaken. Still grieving the death of her beloved husband, she decides to move out of the house they once shared and into a retirement community. Though she hopes it's a new beginning, she does not expect to run into an old flame, dredging up the same complicated emotions she felt a lifetime ago. 1914: Socialite Edith Vanderbilt is struggling to manage the luxurious Biltmore Estate after the untimely death of her cherished husband. Edith is determined to uphold the Vanderbilt legacy, and prepare her free-spirited daughter Cornelia to inherit it...in spite of her family's deteriorating financial situation. But Cornelia has dreams of her own. As she explores more of the rapidly changing world around her, she's torn between upholding tradition and pursuing the exciting future that lies beyond Biltmore's gilded gates."--
Author: Healey, Jane (Freelance journalist), author. Published: 2022 2021 Call Number: LP F HEALEY Format: Large print Summary: "Anna Cavanaugh is a restless young widow and brilliant French teacher at a private school in Washington, DC. Everything changes when she's recruited into the Office of Strategic Services by family friend and legendary WWI hero Major General William Donovan. Donovan has faith in her--and in all his "glorious amateurs" who are becoming Anna's fast friends: Maggie, Anna's down-to-earth mentor; Irene, who's struggling to find support from her husband for her clandestine life; and Julia, a cheerful OSS liaison. But the more Anna learns about the organization's secret missions, the more she longs to be stationed abroad. Then comes the opportunity: go undercover as a spy in the French Resistance to help steal critical intelligence that could ultimately turn the tide of the war. Dispatched behind enemy lines and in constant danger, Anna is filled with adrenaline, passion, and fear. She's driven to make a difference--for her country and for herself. Whatever the risk, she's willing to take it to help liberate France from the shadows of occupation and to free herself from the shadows of her former life."--
Author: Cast, Kristin, author. Published: 2022 Call Number: Y CAST Format: Books Summary: "What price would you pay for freedom? Return to the acclaimed dystopian world of the Key by New York Times bestselling author Kristin Cast, as two young rebels fight to determine their own worth and change the world along with themselves. Safety comes with a price. The Key Corporation has kept Westfall safe from pandemics for the last fifty years. But that's not all they've done. After discovering the shocking truth behind the Key Corporation, nurse Elodie and misfit Aiden have managed to escape in search of New Dawn--the stronghold for the Eos resistance movement. There, they can fight for a better world, one where everyone can make their own futures. But things aren't always as they seem, and as they navigate the tricky paths between perception and reality, freedom and fighting for survival, the two young rebels must discover who they can trust, even as they learn more about who they really are. And change also comes at a cost"--Publisher's description.
Author: Trigiani, Adriana, author. Published: 2022 Call Number: LP F TRIGIANI Format: Large print Summary: "From present day Viareggio to Glasgow during World War II, a multigenerational sweeping tale of love lost, family secrets, and reconciliation over decades from New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani"-- Matelda, the Cabrelli family's matriarch, has always been brusque and opinionated. Now, as she faces the end of her life, she is determined to share a long-held secret with her family about her own mother's great love story: with her childhood friend, Silvio, and with dashing Scottish sea captain John Lawrie McVicars, the father Matelda never knew...In the halcyon past, Domenica Cabrelli thrives in the coastal town of Viareggio until her beloved home becomes unsafe when Italy teeters on the brink of World War II. Her journey takes her from the rocky shores of Marseille to the mystical beauty of Scotland to the dangers of wartime Liverpool--where Italian Scots are imprisoned without cause--as Domenica experiences love, loss, and grief while she longs for home. A hundred years later, her daughter, Matelda, and her granddaughter, Anina, face the same big questions about life and their family's legacy, while Matelda contemplates what is worth fighting for. But Matelda is running out of time, and the two timelines intersect and weave together in unexpected and heartbreaking ways that lead the family to shocking revelations and, ultimately, redemption.
Author: Harris, Tessa, author. Published: 2022 2021 Call Number: F HARRIS Format: Books Summary: England 1944. When Madeline is sent a mysterious message telling her that she will be posted at Trent Park mansion, she can't help but wonder how she will be helping the war effort from a stately home. No sooner than she arrives, she signs the Official Secrets Act. Nazi generals are staying at the house. It is bugged with listening devices in every room, and it is up to Madeline to gain the Nazis' trust and coax them into giving up information. When Max Bamberger, a Jewish refugee, arrives with the same mission, Madeline finds herself trapped in a dangerous game of chess. Madeline had met Max in Germany before the war, her heart was his from the first moment they locked eyes, but they had been painstakingly separated when the Nazi's overran German cities. The hope that he had escaped was her guiding light in the darkness of war. With one of the generals taking a fancy to Madeline, her love for Max must remain a secret. When Madeline uncovers details on Hitler's plans that could change the face of the war, she must act quickly. But not everyone at Trent Park is on the same side. When the walls have ears, who can you trust? Based on the true events that took place at Trent Park during WWII, this is an emotionally gripping, and heartbreaking novel about love, sacrifice, and betrayal, perfect for fans of The Rose Code and The Lost Girls of Paris.
Author: Lowe, T. I. (Tonya), author. Published: 2022 2019 Call Number: LP F LOWE Format: Large print Summary: "From the bestselling author of Lulu's Café Josie Slater has allowed the circumstances anchoring her in Sunset Cove to become a life sentence. Since her mother's death years before, she's spent most of her waking hours helping her dad run the Driftwood Diner. As her best friends, Opal and Sophia, make their dreams come true, Josie watches her own art school aspirations drift on by. But when a French-speaking Southern gentleman from her past moves back from Europe, Josie is launched into a tizzy of what-ifs and I-sure-do-hope-sos. August Bradford left Sunset Cove six years ago to sow some life oats and conquer his ambitious career goals. Finally ready to lay down some roots, the successful artist is back in town and determined to win Josie's heart. When he enlists Josie's help in the preparations for a children's art camp, Josie finds herself unleashing her artistic side in a way she hasn't since before her mother's death. August hopes to convince Josie to paint a life with him, but the problem is convincing her to let go of her apprehensions and give him--and her dreams--a fair chance"--
