Author: Jones, Dan, 1981- author. Published: 2021 Call Number: 940.1 Format: Books Summary: "An epic reappraisal of the medieval world--and the rich and complicated legacy left to us by the rise of the West--from the New York Times bestselling author of The Templars. When the once-mighty city of Rome was sacked by barbarians in 410 and lay in ruins, it signaled the end of an era--and the beginning of a thousand years of profound transformation. In a gripping narrative bursting with big names--from St. Augustine and Attila the Hun, to the Prophet Muhammad and Eleanor of Aquitaine--Dan Jones charges through the history of the Middle Ages. Powers and Thrones takes readers on a journey through an emerging Europe, the great capitals of late Antiquity, as well as the influential cities of the Islamic West, and culminates in the first contact between the old and new worlds in the sixteenth century. The medieval world was forged by the big forces that still occupy us today: climate change, pandemic disease, mass migration, and technological revolutions. This was the time when the great European nationalities were formed; when our basic Western systems of law and governance were codified; when the Christian Churches matured as both powerful institutions and the regulators of Western public morality; and when art, architecture, philosophical inquiry and scientific invention went through periods of massive, revolutionary change. At each stage in this story, successive western powers thrived by attracting--or stealing--the most valuable resources, ideas, and people from the rest of the world. The West was rebuilt on the ruins of an empire and emerged from a state of crisis and collapse to dominate the region and the world. Every sphere of human life and activity was transformed in the thousand years of Powers and Thrones. As we face a critical turning point in our own millennium, the legacy and lessons of how we got here matter more than ever"--
Author: Shafak, Elif, 1971- author. Published: 2021 Call Number: F SHAFAK Format: Books Summary: "Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns. He is a botanist looking for native species, but really, he's searching for lost love. Years later a Ficus carica grows in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lives. This tree is her only connection to an island she has never visited -- her only connection to her family's troubled history and her complex identity as she seeks to untangle years of secrets to find her place in the world. A moving, beautifully written, and delicately constructed story of love, division, transcendence, history, and eco-consciousness, The Island of Missing Trees is Elif Shafak's best work yet." -- A novel about belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.
Author: Patchett, Ann, author. Patchett, Ann. Three fathers. Patchett, Ann. First Thanksgiving. Patchett, Ann. Paris tattoo. Patchett, Ann. My year of no shopping. Published: 2021 Call Number: 814.6 Format: Books Summary: "The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays"-- ""Any story that starts will also end.' As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart. At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship with Tom Hanks's brilliant assistant, Sooki, that explores what it means 'to find someone who could see us as our best and most complete selves.'" --Front jacket flap
Author: Marshall, Tim, 1959- author. Published: 2021 Call Number: 320.12 Format: Books Summary: "Tim Marshall's global bestseller Prisoners of Geography offered us a 'fresh way of looking at maps' (The New York Times Book Review), showing how every nation's choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Since then, the geography hasn't changed, but the world has. Now, in this revelatory new book, Marshall takes us into ten regions that are set to shape global politics and power. Find out why the Earth's atmosphere is the world's next battleground; why the fight for the Pacific is just beginning; and why Europe's next refugee crisis is closer than we think. In ten chapters covering Australia, The Sahel, Greece, Turkey, the UK, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Space, Marshall explains how a region's geography and physical characteristics affect the decisions made by its leaders. Innovative, compelling, and delivered with Marshall's trademark wit and insight, this is a gripping and enlightening exploration of the power of geography to shape humanity's past, present, and-most importantly-our future." --
Author: Clipston, Amy, author. Published: 2021 Call Number: LP F CLIPSTON Format: Large print Summary: "Brianna Porter chose to stay in Splendid Lake, North Carolina, and followed in her father's footsteps, helping him run their small resort. When Brianna's father unexpectedly dies, Brianna is left alone to clean up the mess. To make matters worse, a constant stream of real estate brokers begins marching through her property, offering to buy the family land. In particular, she keeps running into handsome real estate mogul Scott Gibson. As Brianna struggles to keep it all together, Scott finds his way into her heart. And as the two fight against their feelings, they just might find themselves forging a surprising and exciting new love at Splendid Lake." --Back cover
Author: Dyson, Michael Eric, author. Published: 2021 Call Number: 305.896 Format: Books Summary: "For more than thirty years, Michael Eric Dyson has played a prominent role in the nation as a public intellectual, university professor, cultural critic, social activist and ordained Baptist minister. He has presented a rich and resourceful set of ideas about American history and culture. Now for the first time he brings together the various components of his multi-hued identity and eclectic pursuits. Entertaining Race is a testament to Dyson's consistent celebration of the outsized impact of African American culture and politics on this country. Black people were forced to entertain white people in slavery, have been forced to entertain the idea of race from the start, and must find entertaining ways to make race an object of national conversation. Dyson's career embodies these and other ways of performing Blackness, and in these pages, ranging from 1991 to the present, he entertains race with his pen, voice and body, and occasionally, alongside luminaries like Cornel West, David Blight, Ibram X. Kendi, Master P, MC Lyte, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Alicia Garza, John McWhorter, and Jordan Peterson. Most of this work will be new to readers, a fresh light for many of his long-time fans and an inspiring introduction for newcomers. Entertaining Race offers a compelling vision from the mind and heart of one of America's most important and enduring voices"--
Author: Zahn, Timothy, author. Published: 2021 Call Number: F ZAHN Format: Books Summary: "The fate of the Chiss Ascendancy hangs in the balance in the epic finale of the Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy from bestselling author Timothy Zahn. For thousands of years The Chiss Ascendancy has been an island of calm, a center of power, and a beacon of integrity. Led by the Nine Ruling Families, their leadership stands as a bulwark of stability against the Chaos of the Unknown Regions. But that stability has been eroded by a cunning foe that winnows away trust and loyalty in equal measure. Bonds of fidelity have given way to lines of division among the families. Despite the efforts of the Expansionary Defense Fleet, the Ascendancy slips closer and closer toward civil war. The Chiss are no strangers to war. Their mythic status in the Chaos was earned through conflict and terrible deeds, some long buried. Until now. To ensure the Ascendancy's future, Thrawn will delve deep into its past, uncovering the dark secrets surrounding the ascension of the First Ruling Family. But the truth of a family's legacy is only as strong as the legend that supports it. Even if that legend turns out to be a lie. To secure the salvation of the Ascendancy, is Thrawn willing to sacrifice everything? Including the only home he has ever known?"--
Author: Hansen, Brooks, 1965- author. Published: 2021 Call Number: F HANSEN Format: Books Summary: "In the late autumn of 1889, the body of an unknown woman appeared on the banks of the Seine River in Paris. It was taken to the city morgue behind Notre Dame and put on display for a month, according to protocol. The eerie beauty of the young woman's expression attracted crowds but no claimant, and so, before the body was dispatched, a mold was taken of the face, yielding a mask which was to become one of the most celebrated cult objects of the 20th century." --Front jacket flap
Author: Cornwell, Patricia Daniels, author. Published: 2021 Call Number: F CORNWELL Format: Books Summary: Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta has come almost full circle, returning to Virginia as the chief medical examiner, the state where she launched her storied career. Finding herself the new girl in town once again after being away for many years, she's inherited not only an overbearing secretary, but also a legacy of neglect and potential corruption. She and her husband Benton Wesley, now a forensic psychologist with the U.S. Secret Service, have relocated to Old Town Alexandria where she's headquartered five miles from the Pentagon in a post-pandemic world that's been torn by civil and political unrest. Just weeks on the job, she's called to a scene by railroad tracks where a woman's body has been shockingly displayed, her throat cut down to the spine, and as Scarpetta begins to follow the trail, it leads unnervingly close to her own historic neighborhood.
Author: Le Carré, John, 1931-2020, author. Cornwell, Nick, writer of afterword. Published: 2021 Call Number: LP F LECARRE Format: Large print Summary: Julian Lawndsley has renounced his high-flying job in the city for a simpler life running a bookshop in a small English seaside town. But only a couple of months into his new career, Julian's evening is disrupted by a visitor. Edward, a Polish émigré living in Silverview, the big house on the edge of town, seems to know a lot about Julian's family and is rather too interested in the inner workings of his modest new enterprise.
Author: Wade, Dwyane, 1982- author. Metelus, Bob, photographer. Published: 2021 Call Number: B WADE Format: Books Summary: This photographic memoir from the NBA superstar looks at his upbringing on the South Side of Chicago, his college career at Marquette and his extraordinary rise to stardom with the Miami Heat. For 16 years, Dwyane Wade has dazzled basketball fans with his on-court artistry and has built his personal brand into one of the most powerful ones in sports. In this beautiful full-color memoir, featuring more than 200 photos from Bob Metelus, who has been documenting Wade's career for more than a decade, Wade takes readers inside his fascinating life and career. Dwyane moves from Wade's challenging upbringing on the South Side of Chicago through his college career at Marquette, where he went from unheralded recruit to one of college basketball's greatest stars, to his extraordinary years with the Miami Heat, with whom he won three NBA championships and was named an All-Star 13 times. Off the court, too, his star has transcended basketball. In Dwyane he takes readers inside his relationship with Gabrielle Union; his dedication to his children and experiences as a father; and his varied interests outside of basketball, from fashion to wine-making. Dwyane is a deep dive into the mind and heart of one of the most compelling basketball players of all time.
Author: Ward, J. R., 1969- author. Published: 2021 Call Number: F WARD Format: Books Summary: "In the next installment of bestselling author J.R. Ward's Prison Camp series, things get steamy when Lucan, a wolven-vampire forced into bartering drug deals for the infamous Prison Colony, meets Rio, the second in command for the shadowy Caldwell supplier, Mozart. After a deal goes awry, a wolf with piercing golden eyes swoops in to save her from certain death. As shocking truths unfurl, Rio is uncertain of who to trust and what to believe--but with her life on the line, true love rears its head and growls in the face of danger"-- Rio Hernandez-Guerrero has been working undercover to bring down Caldwell's worst drug lord, the sadistic Mozart. Ordered to negotiate a massive deal with a shadowy supplier, what shows up at the meeting is nothing she expects. Lucan was locked up decades ago for the crime of being both wolven and vampire, forced to engage in drug dealing by the prison's despot. Rio and Logan both have secrets that threaten their fate as soulmates-- and their very lives. Will they win the deadly game they're playing... or will their inner natures shatter their love? -- adapted from jacket
Author: Iggulden, Conn, author. Published: 2021 Call Number: F IGGULDEN Format: Books Summary: As the Persians once again return to reconquer the Greeks, Themistocles, the hero of Salamis, risks everything -- his honor, friendships and his life -- to protect his country. "The Battle of Salamis : Persian King Xerxes stands over the smoking ruins of Athens, an army of slaves at his back. Come to destroy, once and for all, everything that the city stands for, he stares pitilessly at the hopelessly outnumbered Greeks. Veteran soldier Themistocles cannot push the Persians back by force on land, and so he does so by stealth at sea." --Front jacket flap
Author: Headlee, Celeste Anne, 1969- author. Published: 2021 Call Number: 305.8 Format: Books Summary: "A guide to having productive conversations about race"-- In this urgently needed guide, the PBS host, award-winning journalist, and author of We Need to Talk teaches us how to have productive conversations about race, offering insights, advice, and support. A self-described "light-skinned Black Jew," Celeste Headlee has been forced to speak about race--including having to defend or define her own--since childhood. In her career as a journalist for public media, she's made it a priority to talk about race proactively. She's discovered, however, that those exchanges have rarely been productive. While many people say they want to talk about race, the reality is, they want to talk about race with people who agree with them. The subject makes us uncomfortable; it's often not considered polite or appropriate. To avoid these painful discussions, we stay in our bubbles, reinforcing our own sense of righteousness as well as our division. Yet we gain nothing by not engaging with those we disagree with; empathy does not develop in a vacuum and racism won't just fade away. If we are to effect meaningful change as a society, Headlee argues, we have to be able to talk about what that change looks like without fear of losing friends and jobs, or being ostracized. In Speaking of Race, Headlee draws from her experiences as a journalist, and the latest research on bias, communication, and neuroscience to provide practical advice and insight for talking about race that will facilitate better conversations that can actually bring us closer together. This is the book for people who have tried to debate and educate and argue and got nowhere; it is the book for those who have stopped talking to a neighbor or dread Thanksgiving dinner. It is an essential and timely book for all of us.
Author: Johnson-Batiste, Stacey, author. Published: 2021 Call Number: 973.934 Format: Books Summary: The childhood best friend of Vice President Kamala Harris looks back at the community in which they were raised and the lessons they learned from those they loved and admired. Friends from the beginning celebrates the dear friendship and shared experience between the vice president and her close, childhood friend Stacey Johnson-Batiste. This book explores a colorful look at the formative years during which Stacey and Kamala shared and experienced an inclusive environment of community support, love, and nontraditional education. It's a story of enduring friendship, life lessons described in bright, loving detail, and the courage, sacrifice, and dedication to shared values that have sustained their friendship for decades. --adapted from jacket flaps
Author: Perry, Thomas, 1947- author. Published: 2021 Call Number: F PERRY Format: Books Summary: When she agrees to help a woman escape a crazed ex-boyfriend who is friends with members of a Russian organized crime brotherhood, rescue artist Jane Whitefield leads a deadly crime syndicate on a wild chase through the Northeast from which only one party--Jane or her pursuers--will emerge alive. After Sara Daughton cheated on her boyfriend, he dragged her to the home of the offending man and made her watch as he killed him. She testified against the boyfriend, but a bribed jury acquitted him. Now he's free-- and trying to find and kill her. Jane Whitefield helps people who need to vanish completely and establish a new life. But the boyfriend has dangerous friends: members of a Russian organized crime brotherhood. The Russians believe the knowledge Jane has of past clients could be worth millions. As Jane and Sara plunge into Maine's Hundred Mile Wilderness, one thing is certain: only one party-- Jane or her pursuers-- will emerge alive. -- adapted from jacket
Author: Holland, James, 1970- author. Published: 2021 Call Number: 940.54 Format: Books Summary: "In the annals of World War II, certain groups of soldiers stand out, and among the most notable were the Sherwood Rangers. Originally a cavalry unit in the last days of horses in combat, whose officers were landed gentry leading men who largely worked for them, they were switched to the "mechanized cavalry" of tanks in 1942. Winning acclaim in the North African campaign, the Sherwood Rangers then spearheaded one of the D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, led the way across France, were the first British troops to cross into Germany, and contributed mightily to Germany's surrender in May 1945. Inspired by Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers, acclaimed WWII historian James Holland memorably profiles an extraordinary group of citizen soldiers constantly in harm's way. Their casualties were horrific, but nonetheless their ranks immediately refilled. Informed by never-before-seen documents, letters, photographs, and other artifacts from Sherwood Rangers' families-an ongoing fraternity-and by his own deep knowledge of the war and of tank warfare, Holland offers a uniquely intimate portrait of the conflict at ground level. He introduces heretofore unknowns such as Commanding Officer Stanley Christopherson, squadron commander John Semken, Sergeant George Dring, the remarkable regimental chaplain Leslie Skinner, and other memorable characters who helped the regiment become the single unit with the most battle honors of any ever in the British army. Following the Sherwood Rangers' brutal journey over the dramatic eleven months between D-Day and VE-Day, weaving their exploits into the larger narrative and strategy of the war, Holland argues that the U.S.-built Sherman tank in which they fought was one of the finest in action, and he presents a vivid and original perspective on the endgame of WWII in Europe"--
Author: Greenhouse, Linda, author. Published: 2021 Call Number: 347.73 Format: Books Summary: "'About this Book' At the end of the Supreme Court's 2019-2020 term, the center was holding. The predictions that the Court would move irrevocably to the radical right hadn't come to pass, as the justices released surprisingly moderate opinions on cases involving abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, and how local governments could handle the pandemic, all shepherded by Chief Justice John Roberts. By the end of the 2020-2021 term, much about our the nation's highest court will have changed. The right-wing supermajority will complete its first term on the bench, cementing Donald Trump's legacy on American jurisprudence. This is the story of that year. From the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the rise of Amy Coney Barrett, from the pandemic to the election, from the Trump campaign's legal challenges to the storming of the Capitol across the street, the Supreme Court has been at the center of many of the biggest events of the year. Throughout Justice on the Brink, award-winning journalist Linda Greenhouse gives us unique insight into a Supreme Court under stress, providing the context and brilliant analysis readers of her work in The New York Times have come to expect"--
Author: Blum, Jenna, author. Published: 2021 Call Number: B BLUM Format: Books Summary: Since she adopted him as a puppy fifteen years earlier, Jenna Blum and Woodrow have been inseparable. But Woodrow is aging. As he begins to fail, the true nature of his extraordinary relationship with Jenna is revealed. Jenna may be the dog parent, but it is Woodrow, with his amazing personality and trusting nature, who has much to teach her. Jenna discovers, over the months she spends caring for her ailing dog, what it is to be present in the moment, and what it truly means to love.
Author: Wingate, Lisa, author. Published: 2021 2007 Call Number: F WINGATE Format: Books Summary: "Once trapped in a world of poverty and neglect, Dell Jordan knows she was one of the lucky ones. Adopted at thirteen, she was loved, mentored, and encouraged to pursue her passion for music. By twenty, her future has expanded in exciting new directions--a year abroad with a traveling symphony, teaching music to orphans in Ukraine, and applying for a scholarship to Julliard. But underneath Dell's smoothly polished surface lurk mysteries from the past. Why did her mother abandon her? Who was her father? Are there faces somewhere that look like hers--blood relatives she's never met?" --Back cover
