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 Dear Book Lover:
There are not enough hours in the day to keep you abreast of what is new. Carol is reading many new things and always asks if we have room for more in the newsletter. I know I have missed a few of her picks, but if you come in she will give you her latest list of recommendations.
I am reading lots of teen and middle grade books, a few of which are below! You have to stop in and ask what is new.
Lydia reads what the book club is reading and right now it's The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, (HarperCollins, $14.99/$13.49). Last month was The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell (Vintage Crime, $15.00/$13.50). Lydia loved Russel Banks' new book Lost Memory of Skin, (HarperCollins, $25.99/$23.39).
Beau is doing college applications. Natalie is reading Lost Memory of Skin and promises a review of We the Animals, by Justin Torres (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $18.00/$16.20), which has been on the Northern California Booksellers bestseller list this fall.
Come on in and ask us what else is new.
Thanks for visiting your local independent bookstore. We appreciate your business!
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New Children's Books
Picture Books
Baileyby Harry Bliss Bailey wakes early to start the day getting ready for school. After choosing what to wear, he puts on his backpack and heads for the bus stop. But Bailey is no ordinary student; he is top dog at Champlain Elementary School. Distractions on the way almost cause him to be late as the principal's greeting offers Bailey advice about behaving in the classroom. Following Bailey's day at school is unpredictable at every turn---but so much fun! But dogs will be dogs, and Bailey proves school is an unexpected place to do all sorts of dog things he loves to do while also making friends while his canine abilities enliven an ordinary day. Great fun with clever illustrations added by the author. Ages 4-8. (Scholastic Press, $16.99/$15.29) Reviewed by Carol
The Basket Ball
by Esme Codell
This delightful "poem story" finds Lulu surrounded by "girlie" things when all she loves to do is play basketball. When the boys at school won't let her join their yard team, she devises a plan of her own: invite girls from across globe to form their own team. Girls come from afar to attend the Basket Ball dressed in their "ball" attire to show off their skills and form a league of their own. Perfect for sporty girls and those in between. You will adore the story's illustrations by Jennifer Piecas. Ages 4-8. (Abrams Books for Young Readers, $16.95/$15.26). Reviewed by Carol
Bear in Long Underwear by Todd H. Doodler
We love the Bear in Underwear series. In this story Bear and his friends are going out to play in the snow. Bear builds a snowman and begins giving his clothes to the snowman. When he's down to his long underwear, his friends ask him what he is wearing, which leads to a fun discussion. Amusing illustrations add to the fun. (Blue Apple, $12.99/$11.69) Reviewed by Debbie
 llama llama home with mamaby Anna Dewdney Llama llama is back and this time "llama's head is feeling hot, llama's throat is hurting lots". Told in rhyme this is a story that will cheer up young ones staying home from school. And just as llama llama is feeling better, his mama llama "makes a big ah-choo"! Enjoy. Ages 2-6. (Viking, $17.99/$16.19). Reviewed by Debbie
 Tell Me The Day Backwardsby Albert Lamb, Illustrated by David McPhail Who hasn't had a child come home from school and when asked how the day went replied "nothing happened". Timmy Bear and his mama play a game called Tell Me The Day Backwards, and Timmy really thinks about his day and all the adventures that he enjoyed. The last thing was brushing his teeth, but before that was the sunset and before that a yummy picnic for summer, and being in a deep pool with a scary fish, on back to waking up from his winter's sleep. What a great way to share a day. Ages 3-6. (Candlewick Press, $15.99/$14.39). Reviewed by Debbie
 Tilly the Tricksterby Molly Shannon You will tickle your funny bone with this mischievous girl who does nothing more that cause a little trouble. Tilly tricks everyone from family members to classmates and her teacher with leaking cups, toothpaste cookies, and hot strawberry-cinnamon candies. But the tables are turned on Tilly when her tricks at school get her sent home by the principal and her family pulls some tricks of their own. Will Tilly decide to change her trickster ways? The author's hilarious story is cleverly illustrated by Ard Hoyt and is sure to become a favorite for ages 4-8. (Abrams Books for Young Readers, $16.95/$15.26). Reviewed by Carol
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Middle Readers
 Chronicles of the Red King 1 The Secret Kingdom
by Jenny Nimmo
Fans of the Charlie Bone series won't want to miss this one. Go back before Charlie Bone and find out about his ancestor, the Red King. Timoken is a prince, given a gift of a magical cloak and a potion, the Aliixir, the water of eternal life. When his peaceful kingdom is attacked, he and his sister must flee, looking for a new kingdom. The evil viridees will hunt them, seeking the magical moon cloak. Across time and many places, how long must Timoken travel before he finds his new home? Ages 8-12. (Scholastic, $16.99/$15.29) Reviewed by Debbie
 Mysterious Benedict Society: Mr. Benedict's Book of Perplexing Puzzles, Elusive Enigmas, and Curious Conundrums
by Trenton Lee Stewart
For the many young fans of this bestselling series, this is a collection of mind-bending clever twists of puzzles, riddles, and brainteasers that will test your wits...with the newest copies autographed by the author! As an added surprise, you will find what is coming in 2012; read an excerpt of The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict. Ages 9-12. (Little, Brown and Company, $12.99/$11.69) Reviewed by Carol
Pie by Sarah Weeks
This delightful story is about family, friendship, and most of all...pies! If you have a young reader that is begging to try their hand at baking a pie, this is for them. Alice loves her aunt Polly and spends time with her in the bakery where she turns out prize-winning pies. But when Aunt Polly dies and leaves her secret pie crust recipe in her will to her cat Lardo, everything turns upside-down. Alice and her friend Charlie find themselves thrust into the center of a family dispute while everyone in town goes pie-crazy hoping to discover Polly's ingredients for the famous pie crust. While Alice is searching for the ingredients that really matter, the author leaves the reader with a delectable recipe at the end of each chapter...a total of 14 pies you might want to test. A heartwarming story for ages 9-12 with scrumptious pie recipes, several of which I have already baked and added to my personal recipe book. (Scholastic Press, $16.99/$15.29). Reviewed by Carol
Wonderstruckby Brian Selznick Author Selznick revisits the graphic novel format he used so successfully in the Invention of Hugo Cabret. There are two related but separate story lines in this novel: that of Ben and Rose. Ben wishes he could find his father now that his mother has died, but he never knew him. So, he runs away from home to New York City to try to find him. Rose's story is told in wordless graphic form, she too is not satisfied with her life and separately, years apart, they both begin their adventures. I loved these fascinating stories, with much of their setting in the Museum of Natural History. You don't want to miss this one. Ages 9 and up. (Scholastic Press, $29.99/$26.99). Reviewed by Debbie
Teen Reading
When Pierce was small she met a young man in a cemetery who brought a bird back to life. When Pierce drowns in a swimming pool some years later she ends up in the realm of the dead where she meets the same man. He doesn't recognize her at first, but when he does he asks her to stay with him (when she is resuscitated she wakes up in the hospital). Pierce can't forget what happened after her accident; it changes her and also changes the was she deals with her friends. Now she and her mom are starting over again in a new town. But can she really change her destiny? Each chapter begins with a quote from Dante's Inferno and the story of Persephone is a part of the story as well. Good reading from author Cabot. Ages 12 and up. (Scholastic Press, $7.99/$7.19). Reviewed by Debbie
Divergent
by Veronica Roth
Beatrice lives in a dystopian future where, at age 16, you must choose your life's direction. Their are five factions striving to create a perfect world: Erudite (intelligent), Abnegation (selfless), Candor (honest), Dauntless (brave), and Amity (peaceful). Will Beatrice choose the expected path and stay with her family or choose a radical new direction. And is there really a perfect world in the planning? If you liked The Hunger Games, I highly recommend this action packed story. Ages 12 and up (Puffin, $6.99/$6.29). Reviewed by Debbie
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New Adult Hardcover Fiction
Jack Reacher became a maverick, a nomad, and a vigilante hero. Once an elite military cop who turned his back on a promising career, he has been wandering across America for years, a loner dispensing justice against crime when necessary. How did this all begin and what caused it to happen? In Child's new novel these questions will be answered. Going back to 1997, we find him still in the army being sent to Carter Crossing, a small town in the northeast corner of Mississippi to investigate a murder that quickly spins out of control, causing him to face a shocking situation that changes his life forever. The prequel takes fans back to the beginning before Reacher stuck out his thumb and hit the road. (Delacorte Press, $28.00/$25.25). Reviewed by Carol
 Among the Wonderful
by Stacy Carlson
In 1842, a young P.T. Barnum arrives in New York to transform a dismal natural history museum into an attraction displaying human curiosities and a live animal menagerie that will become the nation's most popular attraction in the modern age of entertainment. Struggling to survive within the museum's change are two unforgettable characters: Emile Guillaudeu, a disenchanted taxidermist, and Ana Swift, a professional giantist; each must concede moving toward change in order to survive. The story weaves together a world of untamed wilderness in upper Manhattan, where within the walls of Barnum's museum feuds are playing out within a community of fabled residents. A vivid and fascinating tale of nineteenth century New York that will stay with the reader long after the book is closed. (Steerforth Press, $24.99/$22.50). Reviewed by Carol
 The Borrower
by Rebecca Makkai
Clever, witty, refreshing. A story for book lovers and addicted readers who will find a "surprise" in every chapter. 10-year-old Ian Drake "hijacks" his favorite librarian, young Lucy Hull, in an attempt to run away from home hoping to escape from his overbearing mother and the religious youth program in which she has him enrolled, where the teachings emphasize sexuality issues. The tables soon turn as Lucy finds herself in the role of the "kidnapper" on a crazy road trip from Missouri to Vermont as the odd pair is thrown into the path of Lucy's family history. Wonderfully entertaining, delightfully hilarious, and spiced with moral riddles as the story's final chapters validate the power books can have to change people's lives. Highly recommended. (Viking, $25.00/$23.36). Reviewed by Carol
The Butterfly Cabinet
by Bernie McGill
This author's debut novel based on a true story tells a haunting tale traveling back and forth in time about two women linked by a terrible secret. Maddie McGlide works as a serving girl for a wealthy family when Charlotte, their youngest child and only daughter, dies and her mother is found guilty of the negligent death. Year's later as an old woman, Maddie is compelled to look back on the tragedy. As she explains to Charlotte's "would-be-great niece", the proud and uncompromising mother, Harriet, didn't take well to her role as mistress of the Irish estate...or even to motherhood. But in Harriet's prison diaries which Maddie found hidden in the old family butterfly cabinet, the chilling truth is told. What really happened to young Charlotte? Suspenseful and moving; beautifully written giving the reader absorbing moments of enjoyment. (Free Press, $22.99/$20.69). Reviewed by Carol
Emorys Giftby W. Bruce Cameron
When 13-year-old Charlie Hall's mother dies, the boy and his father become engulfed in a silent grief that won't allow them to communicate their feelings. But when Charlie is about to be attacked by a mountain lion, he is saved by a grizzly bear, an animal thought to be extinct in the northern Idaho mountains near his home, and the boy's life is changed forever. As the story continues, the reader finds that Emory, the grizzly, is a very unusual bear. This heartwarming coming-of-age tale tells how trust and love can heal a broken family. Deeply moving and insightful. A must read, especially for animal lovers. (Forge, $22.99/$20.69). Reviewed by Carol
Flash and Bones
by Kathy Reichs
A body is found in a barrel of asphalt near Charlotte Motor Speedway. The next day, a NASCAR crew member tells Temperance Brennen a devastating story. Twelve years earlier, his sister, Cindi, a high school senior who wanted to be a pro racecar driver, disappeared with her boyfriend, Cale Lovette. At the time, Lovette's ties to a group of right-wing extremists drew the FBI into the case. Temp finds it odd that the search was quickly terminated and the incident kept under wraps. Is the body Cindi's or Cale's? Did the pair go underground? Or was there an FBI cover-up? When a surprising substance is found with the body, Tempe's determination to find the truth puts her on track for a deadly collision. This riveting suspense thriller with a final surprising twist is the fourteenth novel in the author's mystery series featuring forensic anthropologist Dr. Termperance Brennan. (Scribner, $26.99/$24.29). Reviewed by Carol
The Lanternby Deborah Lawrenson
This dark novel tells a modern Gothic tale. Eve, a young woman and lover of books, becomes romantically involved with Dom, an older mysterious man. Their whirlwind relationship leads them to the south of France where they settle into life in an abandoned farmhouse in a quiet hamlet. Secrets from the old house, as well as Dom's previous marriage, begin to emerge. Arousing suspicion and uncertainty, Eve's jealousy and obsession surrounding the mystery of former wife Rachel evolves into eroded trust and a feeling of danger. Ghosts from the past, long-buried family secrets, and a haunted tale surrounding the house's former owner, who as a young girl lived within the warm scented landscape, conjures up a story of romance and mystery that I couldn't put down. Magical reading you won't want to end. (HarperCollins, $25.99/$23.59) Reviewed by Carol
 Night Circus by Erin Morganstern
The author's debut novel thrusts the reader into the magical world of a nineteenth century circus, attracting a captive audience between dusk and dawn to a myriad of tents in which the viewers are mesmerized by the acts of magicians, acrobats, contortionists and other beauties of this night circus. Calling itself Le Cirque des Reves...the circus of dreams..it is open only at night and arrives without warning or previous announcements. Within the story are two young magicians, Celia and Marco, each trained from an early age and set against the other in a game only one will win. But when love intervenes, their game must play out with the circus as the stage. From the circus performers and their patrons, surrounded by a magical ambience, the author's cast is extraordinarily described in an adult fantasy not to be missed. (Doubleday, $26.95/$24.26). Reviewed by Carol
 Only Time Will Tellby Jeffrey Archer This first novel in the author's new series, The Clifton Chronicles, tells the story of one family across generations. The tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1920, a boy who never knew his father, but learns about life on England's Bristol docks from his uncle. Harry is expected to join life at the shipyard, but he unexpectedly is awarded a scholarship to an exclusive boys' school moving him into a life he could never have imagined. This introductory novel in the series portrays a cast of colorful characters taking the reader from the destruction of the Great War to the outbreak of World War II. I was utterly hooked by this story and am now sitting on the edge awaiting the next in the series of Harry's journey. (St. Martin's Press, $27.99/$25.19). Reviewed by Carol
 Operation Napoleon by Arnaldur Indridason
A gripping globe-hopping political thriller flashback to 1945 when a German bomber with German and American officers onboard crashes during a blizzard over Iceland. One of the crew, a German officer, hoping for a chance of survival, walks away from the crash with a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist only to disappear in a snowstorm.. Now a U.S. Army team is currently, and secretively, trying to remove a plane from a glacier in Iceland. When a young Icelandic rescue volunteer contacts his sister Kristen and then mysteriously disappears, she sets out to discover the riddle surrounding Operation Napoleon. This popular author of the Inspector Erlunder suspense series brings readers a spellbinding standalone gripping novel. It's a page-turner! (Minotaur Books, $24.99/$$22.50). Reviewed by Carol
 Small Hotel
by Robert Olen Butler Set in New Orleans, the story works its way back in time telling of the relationship between Michael and Kelly Hays who have decided to end their twenty-four year marriage. When Kelly is due in court to finalize the divorce, she instead drives from her home in Florida to the New Orleans hotel where she and Michael first began their relationship. She is now about to make a decision that will affect the family which includes their 19-year-old daughter. This is a moving story of a man who can't say the word "love" and the woman he has harmed. Heartwarming, sometimes disturbingly moving through a marriage relationship, but beautifully brought to the reader with a conclusion you will happily close to on the last page. (Grove Press, $24.00/$21.60). Reviewed by Carol
 Stealing Mona Lisa by Carson Morton
A potpourri of characters: a Spanish art dealer who sells flawless forgeries, a Parisian street orphan, a beautiful young American pickpocket, the wife of a wealthy U.S railroad empire power, and a priceless painting. This captivating story is about a scam in the world of art forgery and con-artists with a twist as the devastating rain ravaged Paris when the River Seine overflowed its banks making thousands of Parisians homeless in the early 19th century. Although the author took liberties with the times running through his novel for dramatic purposes, Stealing Mona Lisa is a riveting mystery that will keep you guessing to the very end. (Minotaur Books, $25.99/$23.39) Reviewed by Carol
 Stranger You Seek
by Amanda Kyle Williams Addiction has derailed Keye Street's career as an FBI profiler and she is now surviving as a private investigator and bounty hunter. Pint-sized with a larger-than-life attitude, she is contracted by the Atlanta Police Department to profile and stop a series of murders committed by the "Wishbone Killer". Keye's assignment gets her close to the killer; but as the hunter she becomes the hunted, adding more stress to the life she is trying to turn around. The author's debut novel has an electrifying climax and gives the reader a reason to anxiously await Keye and the killer in book two of this new series. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. (Bantam, $25.00/$22. 50). Reviewed by Carol
 When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
Set in America in the not-too-distant future, where criminals have their sins genetically altered in a strangely cruel and unusual form of punishment know as chroming, Hannah's sin is the killing of her unborn child. Because she's determined to protect the identity of the baby's father, she is sentenced to live as a Red for 16 years. Now stigmatized and shunned, she must make her way in a hostile world where faith, love and sexuality are governed by politics. A riveting, fast-paced dystopian thriller you won't be able to put down. (Algonquin Books, $24.95/$22.46). Reviewed by Carol
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