Author: Goodwin, Doris Kearns. Published: 2005 Call Number: B LINCOLN Format: Books Summary: This multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history. Historian Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius, as the one-term congressman rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals to become president. When Lincoln emerged as the victor at the Republican National Convention, his rivals were dismayed. Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery led inexorably to civil war. That Lincoln succeeded, Goodwin demonstrates, was because of his extraordinary ability to put himself in the place of other men, to experience what they were feeling, to understand their motives and desires. It was this that enabled Lincoln to bring his disgruntled opponents together, create the most unusual cabinet in history, and marshal their talents to the task of preserving the Union.
Author: Ehrman, Bart D. Published: 2005 Call Number: 225.486 EHRMAN Format: Books Summary: When Biblical scholar Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages, he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. For almost 1500 years these manuscripts were hand copied by scribes who were influenced by the cultural, theological and political disputes of their day. Both mistakes and intentional changes abound in the surviving manuscripts, making the original words difficult to reconstruct. Ehrman reveals where and why these changes were made and how scholars go about reconstructing the original words of the New Testament as closely as possible. He makes the provocative case that many of our cherished biblical stories and beliefs stem from both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes--alterations that dramatically affected subsequent versions.--From publisher description.
Author: Harris, Joanne, 1964- author. Published: 2001 2000 Call Number: F HARRIS Format: Books Summary: From the author of "Chocolat" comes an intoxicating tale of love lost and found, set in a small French village. As a boy Jay spent summers in Europe hanging out with his friend Joe and his homemade wines. Now a young man, Jay returns to France to recapture some of the magic of his lost youth.
Author: Stewart, Mariah, author. Published: 2000 Call Number: PB STEWART Format: Books Summary: Leah McDevitt will do almost anything to learn the location of her sister's body, even pay ransom to her killer, but when the killer dies unexpectedly in prison, she seeks the assistance of a man who lost his wife to the same butcher. As co-owner and features editor of a popular magazine, Leah McDevitt loves exploring exotic locales while she tracks fashion and social trends across the globe. Yet despite her devotion to her fast-paced career, Leah is haunted by the memory of her cherished younger sister Melissa, who years ago disappeared without a trace. So when convicted serial killer Raymond Lambert contacts her, Leah is more than willing to pay him the long-standing reward for information leading to the recovery of Melissa's body. But before Lambert can turn over all his information, he himself is killed. Devastated but determined to finally uncover the truth, Leah heads to the Maine woods to seek out Ethan Sanger, the author of a book about Lambert. A private investigator, Ethan had written the killer's story in exchange for yet another of Lambert's terrible secrets. Working together to discover the truth about Melissa's disappearance, Leah and Ethan come to realize that even amid the ashes of tragedy, love can bloom. But someone harboring secrets of his own is about to enter their lives...someone who knows more about Leah than he should...someone who won't be satisfied until his own deadly game is played out.
Author: Aldrich, Bess Streeter, 1881-1954, author. Published: 1997 1928 Call Number: FIC ALDRICH Format: Books Summary: After marrying Will Deal and moving to Nebraska, Abbie endures the difficulties of frontier life and raises her children to pursue the ambitions that were once her own. The classic story of Abbie and Will Deal--pioneers who left everything behind for a new life on America's frontier. Abbie Mackenzie dreamed of becoming a fine lady like her aristocratic grandmother, devoting herself to music and art. But at eighteen Abbie found a different dream, turning away from the promise of a comfortable life as a doctor's wife to marry handsome, quiet Will Deal. Together, they eagerly accepted the challenge of homesteading in Nebraska territory, where the prairies stretched as far as the eye could see, and only the strongest survived for long. For nearly 90 years, reader have cherished Abbie's story--an inspiring story of struggle against unexpected perils, of love and laughter, of the land she helped conquer and the family she raised.
Author: Stewart, Mariah, author. Published: 1996 Call Number: PB STEWART Format: Books Summary: On the fast track at a Philadelphia consulting firm, Abigail McKenna has put her personal life on hold, content to focus on her professional success. But when she's suddenly laid off, Abby finds herself with a dwindling savings account and no promising job prospects. So when a letter arrives holding the solution to all her financial problems, Abby is relieved but saddened: Her dear Aunt Leila has passed away, naming Abby the sole beneficiary of her majestic Victorian estate in North Carolina.
Author: Busjeet, Vinod, author. Published: 2021 Call Number: F BUSJEET Format: Books Summary: "A novel about the independence of a young Hindu boy in Mauritius, a small island under British colonial rule in the Indian Ocean"-- "In the 1950s, Vishnu Bhushan is a young boy yet to learn the truth of his family's fractured histories--an alliance, as his mother says, of two bankrupt families. In evocative prose, the first two decades of Vishnu's life in Mauritius unfold with heart-wrenching closeness as he battles to experience the world beyond, and the cultural, political, and familial turmoil that hold on to him." --Front jacket flap.
Author: Sullivan, Andrew, 1963- author. Sullivan, Andrew, 1963- Here comes the groom. Sullivan, Andrew, 1963- Two faces of Bensonhurst. Sullivan, Andrew, 1963- Gay life, gay death. Sullivan, Andrew, 1963- Taken unseriously. Published: 2021 Call Number: 808 Format: Books Summary: The provocative social and political commentator Andrew Sullivan--the youngest ever editor of The New Republic, founding editor of The Daily Dish, hailed as one of the most influential journalists of the last three decades by The New York Times--presents a collection of his most iconic and powerful essays of social and political commentary from The New Republic, The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, New York magazine, and more.
Author: Malkasian, Carter, 1975- author. Published: 2021 Call Number: 958.1047 Format: Books Summary: "The American War in Afghanistan is a full history of the war in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2020. It covers political, cultural, strategic, and tactical aspects of the war and details the actions and decision-making of the United States, Afghan government, and Taliban. The work follows a narrative format to go through the 2001 US invasion, the state-building of 2002-2005, the Taliban offensive of 2006, the US surge of 2009-2011, the subsequent drawdown, and the peace talks of 2019-2020. The book examines the overarching questions of the war: Why did the United States fail? What opportunities existed to reach a better outcome? Why did the United States not withdraw from the war?"--
Author: Edwards, Louis, 1962- author. Published: 2021 Call Number: F EDWARDS Format: Books Summary: "The Whiting Award-winning author makes his long-awaited comeback with this epic tale, spanning from the Deep South to the Middle East, that bridges four countries, two cultures, and three families who struggle to love and survive in the face of war, natural disasters, and other calamities beyond their control. Ramadan Ramsey is the improbable love story between Alicia Ramsey, a ninth generation New Orleans African American, and Mustafah Tota, a Syrian refugee in the city's Ninth Ward. Through a series of familial betrayals, Mustafah returns to Syria unaware that Alicia is carrying his child. When the baby is born, Alicia names their son Ramadan and raises him with the help of her mother, Mama Joon. But tragedy strikes when Hurricane Katrina barrels into New Orleans, shattering the Ramsey family. Years later, when Ramadan turns seventeen, he sets off to find Mustafah. It is an odyssey filled with breathtaking and brilliant adventures that takes the young man from the familiar world of NOLA to Egypt, Istanbul, and finally Syria, where he hopes to reunite with the father he has never known. Beautiful, atmospheric, emotionally rich, this compelling novel offers a fresh perspective on the immigrant experience and what it means to feel homeless in one's own homeland. Ramadan Ramsey is a reminder of Louis Edwards' immense talent and fearless storytelling and is a welcome return of this literary light"--
Author: Ahmed, Nawaaz, author. Published: 2021 Call Number: F AHMED Format: Books Summary: "Raised in India, Seema is the beloved daughter of a commanding, erudite, Romantic-poetry-loving doctor father who cut her off when she came out to him as a lesbian. Now living alone in San Francisco, estranged from her African American ex-husband, Seema is one week away from delivering a baby boy, Ishraaq. Ishraaq's arrival has brought to Seema's side, for the first time in 15 years, her terminally ill mother, Nafeesa, and her devoutly religious, hijab-wearing sister Tahera, an ob/gyn living with her husband and two young children in Irving, Texas. But there is to be no easy reconciliation. Instead, this fateful week, narrated by the new-born Ishraaq, ends in an emergency delivery, revealing both a family and a country in distress. The characters confront the complex tensions in their relationships and within their innermost selves, even as their lives are upended by the vandalism of a family mosque in Irving during the lead-up to President Obama's first mid-term elections. Ishraaq must make sense of the broken family and the complicated world that awaits him"--
Author: Brett, Peter V., author. Published: 2021 Call Number: F BRETT Format: Books Summary: "From New York Times bestselling author Peter V. Brett comes a new fantasy saga about the children of a band of legendary heroes--who must become heroes for a new generation. An all-new story set in the world of the beloved Demon Cycle series. Fifteen years ago, humankind won a devastating war against an army of demons. They were led by a generation of heroes whose lives have now become legend--and whose children live in peace, but also in the shadow of their parents' legacies. Darin is the son of the greatest of these heroes, a man venerated as a near-god. The world expects Darin to be just like his father, but he couldn't feel more different: He's a gentle musician who prefers his violin to the sword. Olive's parents are royals from rival kingdoms who were also both once powerful demon hunters. Olive has lived a sheltered life in the palace, but soon discovers that they've inherited their parents' incredible magical power... and a love for combat. Olive and Darin have grown up in a world that their parents made for them: one where demons no longer torment mankind. But there are signs that the demons have returned to the earth--and that they might be hunting Olive. Now Olive and Darin have to prepare to face this ancient threat... and to fight for the freedom to create their own destinies"--
Author: Salvatore, R. A., 1959- author. Published: 2021 Call Number: F SALVATOR Format: Books Summary: In the wake of the demon uprising and two years of peace, a Civil war is in the offing, and Jarlaxle and a small group of friends go on an expedition in search of Doum'wielle, the last wielder of the powerful sword known as "Cutter", in hopes that she may be the key to unlocking the sword's potential. "Two different roads. On one, Jarlaxle and Zaknafein are on a quest to find pieces that could offer salvation to Menzoberranzan. On the other, Drizzet seeks answers that could offer salvation to not just his soul, but all souls. And no matter the outcome of either journey, the Realms will never be the same again." --Front jacket flap