In a memoir and a novel, the characters deal with grief by singing in front of strangers.
In a memoir and a novel, the characters deal with grief by singing in front of strangers.
Many assume that timidity -- or its close cousin, shyness -- is solely a negative trait. But longtime cartoonist Jonathan Todd shows this is not always the case in this semi-autobiographical tale.
(Image credit: Jonathan Todd)
In “All the Worst Humans,” Phil Elwood recounts a career spent engineering headlines for some of the world’s villains.
In “All the Worst Humans,” Phil Elwood recounts a career spent engineering headlines for some of the world’s villains.
In “Swimming Pretty,” Vicki Valosik connects the evolution of an unlikely sport with the century-long struggle of women to be taken seriously in the water.
In “Swimming Pretty,” Vicki Valosik connects the evolution of an unlikely sport with the century-long struggle of women to be taken seriously in the water.
In “Swimming Pretty,” Vicki Valosik connects the evolution of an unlikely sport with the century-long struggle of women to be taken seriously in the water.
In “Swimming Pretty,” Vicki Valosik connects the evolution of an unlikely sport with the century-long struggle of women to be taken seriously in the water.
In Fernanda Trías’s novel “Pink Slime,” one woman holds out in her town after an environmental disaster, trapped in a limbo of indecision while caring for destructive kin.
In Fernanda Trías’s novel “Pink Slime,” one woman holds out in her town after an environmental disaster, trapped in a limbo of indecision while caring for destructive kin.
Author: Micciche, K. J., author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F MICCICHE
Format: Books
Summary: "Watch out for karaoke mishaps that result in a fake engagement...because weddings are forever... When librarian Cecily Jane Allerton and hotshot struggling author Nate Ellis are caught in a compromising position during their MFA program, they decide to get married to keep the haters from destroying their careers. To the horror of Cecily's family, which is a big fan of big white weddings, they elope to City Hall. Now they're back on Block Island, pretending to be a real married couple, and finding that however fake the relationship may be, the mutual attraction is all too real. With Cecily vying for a literary award, Nate striving to get past his writer's block, and plans to annul the marriage after the MFA program ends, what could possibly go wrong?"--
Author: Wise, Virginia, author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: LP F WISE
Format: Large print
Summary: "Can an unconventional woman… Bring a family together? Away from home for the first time, free-spirited Sadie Lapp is determined to prove she can be a proper Amish nanny. Except with twin troublemakers and their bitter aunt, winning over Vernon Kauffman is the least of her problems. But Vernon’s youngest daughter convinces her to stay. As the children and their father unexpectedly make their way into Sadie’s heart, she might just help a troubled family heal—and find the place where she belongs." --Back cover
Author: Daniels, Joel L., author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: B DANIELS
Format: Books
Summary: "A beautiful, painful, and soaring tribute to everything that Black men are and can be"-- "Growing up in the Bronx, Joél Leon was taught that being soft, being vulnerable, could end your life. Shaped by a singular view of Black masculinity espoused by the media, family and friends, and society, he learned instead to care about the gold around his neck and the number of bills in his wallet. He absorbed the "facts" that white was always right and that Black men were either threatening or great for comic relief but never worthy of the opening credits. It wasn't until years later that Joél understood he didn't have to be defined by these and other stereotypes. Now, in a collection of wide-ranging essays, he takes readers from his upbringing in the Bronx to his life raising two little girls of his own, unraveling those narratives to arrive at a deeper understanding of who he is as a son, friend, partner, and father. Traversing both the serious and the lighthearted, from contemplating male beauty standards to his decision to seek therapy to the difficulties of making co-parenting work, Joél cracks open his heart to reveal his multitudes..." --Amazon.com
Author: Leon, Donna, author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F LEON
Format: Books
Summary: "Around one a.m. on an early spring morning, two teenage gangs are arrested after clashing violently in one of Venice's squares. Commissario Claudia Griffoni, on duty that night, perhaps ill-advisedly walks the last of the boys home because his father, Dario Monforte, failed to pick him up at the Questura. Coincidentally, Guido Brunetti is asked by a wealthy friend of Vice-Questore Patta to vet Monforte for a job, triggering Brunetti's memory that twenty years earlier Monforte had been publicly celebrated as the hero of a devastating bombing of the Italian military compound in Iraq. Yet Monforte had never been awarded a medal either by the Carabinieri, his service branch, or by the Italian government. That seeming contradiction, and the brutal attack on one of Brunetti's colleagues, Enzo Bocchese, by a possible gang member, concentrate Brunetti's attentions. Surprisingly empowered by Patta, supported by Signorina Elettra's extraordinary research abilities and by his wife, Paola's, empathy, Brunetti, with Griffoni, gradually discovers the sordid hypocrisy surrounding Monforte's past, culminating in a fiery meeting of two gangs and a final opportunity for redemption."--
Author: Novoa, Gabe Cole, author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: Y NOVOA
Format: Books
Summary: Dami, a nonbinary former demonio, must cancel every deal they have ever made in order to tether their soul to earth and remain human, but first they must help a boy named Silas find Captain Kidd's treasure and break a family curse.
Author: McDonnell, Caimh, author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F MCDONNEL
Format: Books
Summary: "Stella is enjoying life as an almost student, or at least she is until a man falls from the sky right in front of her, leaving a big old hole in the pavement for Manchester Council to fill. The obvious question of how he ended up in the sky in the first place has no obvious answers, which is where The Stranger Times come in. But this isn't just the hunt for another story. Dark powers think Stella might have been involved and the only way she and the team can prove her innocence is to find out what the hell is really going on. And what have dodgy gear, disturbed graves and a decommissioned rock star got to do with all this? Vincent Banecroft has problems of his own in the form of a tall, dark but-definitely-not-handsome man dressed like a funeral who has been sent to make the paper's editor atone for his sins. Once he finds out exactly what that entails, Banecroft is not keen. Being banished to a Hellscape for all eternity looks like being no fun at all, not least because he has that pale Irish skin that burns really easily. All that plus territorial ghouls, homicidal felines, eternal (and seemingly unstoppable) gnomes and a celebrity Who's Who that'd put a royal wedding to shame, and you're looking at a wild few days for The Stranger Times."--Publisher.
Author: Oh, Ellen, author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: Y OH
Format: Books
Summary: When a Korean American teenage artist gets sucked into the world of her own web comic, she must find a way out with the help of a cute boy all while facing off against a villainous corporation.
Author: Hogan, Ruth, 1961- author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F HOGAN
Format: Books
Summary: A wealthy widow, 74-year-old Venetia Hargreaves declares her independence, first with a makeover, then by adopting a dog and then by buying the Phoenix Ballroom to revive one meaningful thing from her past, finding a supportive and loving community of lost souls who become a multigenerational family-by-choice. "For fifty years, Venetia Hargreaves's world revolved around her husband. She built their life around his big career, with dinner on the table at six, a lovely home, and a dutiful son just as business-minded as his father. Now Venetia's a wealthy widow left with a beautiful but empty home, an enviable bank balance, and a distinct feeling that she missed the boat. Once upon a time, she was a dance instructor who dreamed of opening her own ballroom school with a fellow teacher who won her heart. Instead, Venetia chose the safer path. So, at seventy-four years of age, Venetia declares her independence, first with a makeover, and then by adopting a new dog. But something is still missing...until on one of her dog walks by the river she passes by a building she remembers all too well. In her youth it was the spectacular Phoenix Ballroom, where she used to teach waltzes and tangos. These days it's a community center and spiritualist church, funded by a mysterious benefactor who only pays for the upkeep..." --Amazon.com
Author: Berry, Steve, 1955- author. Blackwood, Grant, author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F BERRY
Format: Books
Summary: Wrapping up his latest assignment for the Magellan Billet, Luke Daniels receives a surprise visit from the head of a former-CIA operation named Sommerhaus -- a failed attempt to assemble an espionage network within the Ukraine on the eve of the Russian invasion. Sommerhaus ranks high on Luke's list of painful regrets for it was during this mission that his friend, CIA case officer John Vince, was captured by Russian operatives and supposedly executed. But Luke is provided some shocking news. Vince is alive, in failing health, locked behind the walls of Russia's brutal Solovetsky Island prison, and has a critical message he'll give to no one but Luke. Needing no further convincing Luke vows to bring Vince home. However, just as he manages to extract his friend from prison Vince tragically dies and his final words are rambling and incoherent. Just bits and pieces. But enough to plunge Luke into a hunt for something lost since the 15th century. The legendary library of the first Tsar of All Russia, Ivan the Terrible. Within that priceless collection of rare manuscripts is the key to unraveling a modern-day cipher and stopping a secret Soviet satellite program that still exists. But Luke is not the only one on the trail. Others, both inside and out of Russia, want the library for a totally different reason -- to re-start the Red Star program and finally unleash its destructive potential. Luke's mission is clear. Find the lost library, solve the puzzle, and prevent Red Star falling.
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