|
Adult Fiction
From Karen: The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe Following up her best-selling The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, the author imagines 1915 Boston and the aftermath of the sinking of the Titanic and its impact on one family. Sybil Allston had been jealous that her mother chose to take her younger, prettier sister on the Grand Tour of Europe and return trip on the Titanic's maiden voyage. She is teetering on the edge of spinsterhood and is haunted by the thought of her mother and sister's watery grave. She becomes obsessed with contacting them through a local psychic which leads her down a dark path. This is a page-turner just in time for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking! List Price: $25.95 Our Price: $20.76  From Vicky: Miss Fuller by April BernardIn 1850, Margaret Fuller returned from Europe where she had been reporting on the Italian revolution for the New York Tribune. With her are her new husband, Count Ossoli, and their two year old son. The ship sank off Fire Island and the family drowned - along with a manuscript for Fuller's next book. Emerson asked Thoreau to visit the site of the shipwreck to see if Fuller's manuscript was saved. April Bernard, author of Miss Fuller, weaves a fascinating novel based on this tragedy and the reactions of Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendentalist circle of Concord to this rebellious and passionate woman who dared to think and act independently, breaking with social conventions and mores. $14.99 Google ebook: $9.99
 Staff Pick: The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
Adriana Trigiani is one of our favorite authors! She has remarkable insights into the ways families (especially Italian-American families) work and her writings are at times funny and poignant. In this newest book, star-crossed lovers Ciro and Enza grow up in the Italy Alps and meet at the end of the 19th century. Unbeknownst to one another, they emigrate to America where Fate reunites them. WWI parts them once again and Enza goes on to become a seamstress at the Metropolitan Opera House and is swept into the glamourous salons of Manhattan. This is a riveting historical epic of love and family, war and loss, risk and destiny inspired by Adriana's own family history. SIGNED COPIES AVAILABLE! List Price: $26.95 Our Price: $21.56 Google ebook: $12.99
From Elizabeth S.: The Cove by Ron Rash
This Southern writer continues to collect accolades with his latest story set in the mountains of North Carolina. The cove outside the village of Mars Hill is full of superstition and mystery. Shunned by the community, Laurel Shelton makes her home there along with her brother who recently returned by WWI. In the woods she discovers Walter Smith, a mute flutist who has been incapacitated by hornet stings. After getting this mysterious man back to the cabin, Laurel nurses him back to health. As she falls in love with him, she dreams of making her escape from the harsh treatment of the local population. Their leaving is thwarted by the local Army recruiter, who suspects that Walter is not the man he claims to be. The Cove is a beautifully written story with a very strong sense of place that will keep you reading long into the night. List Price: $26.99 Our Price: $21.59 Google ebook: $12.99
Staff Pick: Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland
It's 1893, and at the Chicago World's Fair, Louis Comfort Tiffany makes his debut with a luminous exhibition of innovative stained-glass windows that he hopes will earn him a place on the international artistic stage. But behind the scenes in his New York studio is the freethinking Clara Driscoll, head of his women's division, who conceives of and designs nearly all of the iconic leaded-glass lamps for which Tiffany will long be remembered. Never publicly acknowledged, Clara struggles with her desire for artistic recognition and the seemingly insurmountable challenges that she faces as a professional woman. She also yearns for love and companionship, and is devoted in different ways to five men, including Tiffany, who enforces a strict policy: He does not employ married women. Ultimately, Clara must decide what makes her happiest--the professional world of her hands or the personal world of her heart. $15.00 Google ebook: $11.99
Staff Pick: The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith (The New No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Novel)
In this latest episode in the beloved, best-selling series, the kindest and best detective in Botswana faces a tricky situation when her personal and professional lives become entangled. Precious Ramotswe is haunted by a repeated dream: a vision of a tall, strange man who waits for her beneath an acacia tree. Odd as this is, she's far too busy to worry about it. The best apprentice at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors is in trouble with the law and stuck with the worst lawyer in Gaborone. Grace Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti are building the house of their dreams, but their builder is not completely on the up and up. List Price: $24.95 Our Price: $19.96 Google ebook: $12.99
Staff Pick: The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler
Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, self-dependent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly he marries her, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage. But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Only Dorothy's unexpected appearances from the dead help him to live in the moment and to find some peace. Gradually he discovers, as he works in the family's vanity-publishing business, turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life, that maybe for this beginner there is a way of saying goodbye. A beautiful, subtle exploration of loss and recovery, pierced throughout with Anne Tyler's humor, wisdom, and always penetrating look at human foibles. List Price: $24.95 Our Price: $19.96 Google ebook: $12.99
 Staff Pick: Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
This National Book Award, PEN/Faulkner Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist and A New York Times Notable Book is now available in paperback! Julie Otsuka's long awaited follow-up to When the Emperor Was Divine is a tour de force of economy and precision, a novel that tells the story of a group of young women brought over from Japan to San Francisco as 'picture brides' nearly a century ago. $13.95 Google ebook: $9.99
Staff Pick: The O'Briens by Peter Behrens
An unforgettable saga of love, loss, and exhilarating change spanning half a century in the lives of a restless family, The O'Briens is the story of a marriage and a family moving through history--from the first flying machines, through two world wars, to the election of JFK--told with epic precision and wondrous imagination.
List Price: $25.95 Our Price: $20.76 Google ebook: $12.99
Staff Pick: The Expats by Chris Pavone
Kate Moore is a working mother, struggling to make ends meet, to raise children, to keep a spark in her marriage . . . and to maintain an increasingly unbearable life-defining secret. So when her husband is offered a lucrative job in Luxembourg, she jumps at the chance to leave behind her double-life, to start anew. Her husband is working incessantly and is becoming distant and evasive; she's getting lonely and bored. Then another American couple arrives. Kate soon becomes suspicious that these people are not who they say they are, and she's terrified that her own past is catching up to her. List Price: $26.00 Our Price: $20.80 Google ebook: $12.99
Staff Pick: May the Road Rise Up to Meet You by Peter Troy
Ethan McOwen is an Irish immigrant whose endurance is tested in Brooklyn and the Five Points at the height of its urban destitution; he is among the first to join the famed Irish Brigade and becomes a celebrated war photographer. Marcella, a society girl from Spain, defies her father to become a passionate abolitionist. Mary and Micah are slaves of varying circumstances, who form an instant connection and embark on a tumultuous path to freedom. All four lives unfold in two beautiful love stories, which eventually collide. Written in gorgeous language that subtly captures the diverse backgrounds of the characters, and interspersed with letters, journals, and dreams, this unforgettable story, rendered in cinematic detail, is about having faith in life's great meaning amidst its various tangles. List Price: $26.95 Our Price: $21.56
Google ebook: $13.99
Staff Pick: Another Piece of My Heart by Jane Green
Andi has spent much of her adult life looking for the perfect man, and at thirty-seven, she's finally found him. Ethan--divorced with two daughters, Emily and Sophia--is a devoted father and even better husband. Always hoping one day she would be a mother, Andi embraces the girls like they were her own. But in Emily's eyes, Andi is an obstacle to her father's love, and Emily will do whatever it takes to break her down. When the dynamics between the two escalate, they threaten everything Andi believes about love, family, and motherhood--leaving both women standing at a crossroad in their lives...and in their hearts. ANOTHER PIECE OF MY HEART is a novel that illuminates the nuances and truths about relationships and is Jane Green at her absolute best. List Price: $25.99 Our Price: $20.79 Google ebook: $12.99
Adult Non-Fiction
Staff Pick: Growing Up Patton by Benjamin Patton
This unique memoir by the grandson of General George S. Patton, Jr. offers a rare and intimate look into the life of the legendary man and the legacy he passed down from one generation to the next. It includes never-before-published letters between General George S. Patton and his son during World War II, as well as unseen family photographs. List Price: $26.95 Our Price: $21.56 Google ebook: $12.99
 Staff Pick: Rogues and Redeemers: When Politics Was King in Irish Boston Rogues and Redeemers tells the hidden story of Boston politics--the cold-blooded ward bosses, the smoke-filled rooms, the larger-than-life pols who became national figures: Honey Fitz, the crafty stage Irishman and grandfather to a president; the pugilistic Rascal King, Michael Curley; the hectored Kevin White who tried to hold the city together during the busing crisis; and Ray Flynn, the Southie charmer who was truly the last hurrah for Irish-American politics in the city. List Price: $26.00 Our Price: $20.80 Google ebook: $12.99
Staff Pick: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe by Gail Lemmon
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana tells the incredible true story of this unlikely entrepreneur who mobilized her community under the Taliban. A story of war, it is also a story of family, faith, and resilience in the face of despair. These women are not victims--they are the glue that holds families together; they are the backbone and the heart of their nation. Kamila Sidiqi's journey will inspire you, but it will also change the way you think about one of the most important political and humanitarian issues of our time. $14.99 Google ebook: $9.99
Staff Pick: Nests: Fifty Nests and the Birds That Built Them by Sharon Beals Each bird's nest, like a great work of beauty and design, tells its own story. Reflecting the remarkable variations found in their builders' plumage, nests are the perfect balance of form and function. These delicate constructions shelter, hide, and house their fragile fledglings from summer storms and deadly predators. But the greatest threat to nests and the birds that build them is often humanity. Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, amateur collecting of nests and eggs and enthusiastic scientific study drove several species to near extinction. $29.95
Young Adult Fiction
Staff Pick: Shine by Lauren Myracle
When her best guy friend falls fiction to a vicious hate crime, 16-year-old Cat sets out to discover who in her small Southern town did it. Richly atmospheric, this daring mystery examines the strength of will it intakes to go against everyone in the name of justice. $7.95 Google ebook: $8.98
 Staff Pick: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenze Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship - the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be. $16.99 Google ebook: $9.99
Children's Picture Books
For Elizabeth: Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and illustrations by Paul Zelinsky This is not an alphabet book for learning the ABC's but it is just right for a laugh out loud experience with 26 letters! It is perfect for story hour and for a sit on the lap read aloud with your favorite toddler. Our friend the moose is just too eager for his page to appear and works his way into the story starting with the letter "D." There is something special on every page for the reader and the listener to find and giggle about. I guarantee that when on the last page Moose says to Zebra , "can we do that again?" you will want to go back to page one and start all over! $16.99
From Elisa: The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems
Is there anything better than reading a Mo Willems book with a child? I think not! Poor Pigeon can never catch a break and now Duckling gets a cookie by doing of all things...just asking! Of course Pigeon has asked for all kinds of things (to drive a bus, a walrus, a hot dog party) but does he receive them? No...because Duckling always gets what he wants. I love watching a child's reaction to Pigeon's antics...and this time the Pigeon or Mo does not disappoint! Ages: 3-6 (but my soon to be 8 year old loves him still!) $15.99
Staff Pick: Emily and Carlo by Marty Rhodes Figley and Illustrated by Catherine Stock Figley's lyrical text and Stock's luminous art create a fresh look at the life of poet Emily Dickinson, focusing on her relationship with her dog, Carlo, a large, floppy, drooly Newfoundland, . Includes quotations about Carlo from Dickinson's poems and letters. If you love Emily Dickinson this is a beautiful way to introduce her poetry to the little ones in your life. Everyone loves this book at the shop!!!
Ages: 5 - 8 $15.95
CHILDREN'S FICTION
New to Our Shelves: Big Nate Goes for Broke by Lincoln Pierce
Big Nate is going for broke! Mighty Jefferson Middle School always wins. Then Nate decides it's time to go from zeroes to heroes! Will Nate crack under the pressure of the "Ultimate Snowdown"? Or lead P.S. 38 to its biggest victory ever? Ages: 8 - 11 $12.99
 Staff Picks: The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The False Prince is a rousing good tale of medieval fantasy. A nobleman devises a plan to find an impersonator of the king's long lost son and put him on the throne. Four orphans must compete to become the "false prince" or die trying. Sage, the hero of the story, is a feisty and smart boy who never lets fear keep him from standing up for what he believes is right. This book is filled with action and adventure and I found myself racing to see how the story would end. This is the first is a trilogy and a great choice for readers who liked The Hunger Games. Ages: 10-13 $17.99 Google ebook: $9.99
 Staff Picks: Summer According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney
When Humphrey hears that school is ending, he can't believe his ears. What's a classroom hamster to do if there's no more school? It turns out that Mrs. Brisbane has planned something thrilling for Humphrey and Og the frog. Ages: 7 - 9 $5.99
Staff Picks: Chomp by Carl Hiaasen
When the difficult star of the reality television show "Expedition Survival" disappears while filming an episode in the Florida Everglades using animals from the wildlife refuge run by Wahoo Crane's family, Wahoo and classmate Tuna Gordon set out to find him while avoiding Tuna's gun-happy father. Ages: 10 - 14 $16.99 Google ebook: $10.99
 Staff Pick: Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood
A Mississippi town in 1964 gets riled when tempers flare at the segregated public pool. As much as Gloriana June Hemphill, or Glory as everyone knows her, wants to turn twelve, there are times when Glory wishes she could turn back the clock a year. Jesslyn, her sister and former confidante, no longer has the time of day for her now that she'll be entering high school. Then there's her best friend, Frankie. Things have always been so easy with Frankie, and now suddenly they aren't. Maybe it's the new girl from the North that's got everyone out of sorts. Or maybe it's the debate about whether or not the town should keep the segregated public pool open. Ages: 9-12 $16.99
Staff Pick: Ted & Me by Dan Gutman
Stosh should have figured that the FBI would find him eventually. Now they've turned up on his doorstep--and they know all about his ability to travel through time using baseball cards. In fact, they want to send him back in time on a mission: to warn President Roosevelt about the attack on Pearl Harbor! But when Stosh finds out that his "ticket" back to 1941 is a Ted Williams card, he starts planning a mission of his own.
Ages: 10-14 $15.99
Children Non-Fiction
 From Vicky: The Great Molasses Flood: Boston, 1919 by Deborah Kops Did you know that there was a HUGE flood of molasses in Boston in 1919?? That it destroyed neighborhoods and killed people and animals in its path? That the people of Boston could smell molasses for years after the accident? (I've actually been to the site of the huge vat that released the flood and I'm sure I caught a whiff of molasses at a nearby stone wall....!) This is an excellent retelling of the story and includes lots of photos and facts that will be sure to interest young readers, including the story of one young boy who was literally pulled from the sticky mass only to be thought dead en route to the hospital. He awoke to find himself covered with a white sheet!! Ages: 10 - 13 $18.95
 From Elisa: 882 1/2 Amazing Answers to Your Questions about the Titanic by Hugh Brewster, Laurie Coulter
If you and/or your child have questions about Titanic, this is by far the best book I have seen about the night of April 15, 1912 when the Titanic sank. This book is organized with 882 ½ simple question and answers (because the ship was 882 ½ ft. long) about the people, the ship, crew, heartwarming stories of how mothers pleaded for their sons to be allowed into life boats, how lovers said goodbye to each other, how people were refused into life boats, and how others never made it out of the ship. For a child (or adult) who wants to learn more facts, there are detailed names, dates, info about the aftermath, a "whatever happened to..." page with facts about survivors, as well as great info about the discovery of the ship, exploration of the wreckage, and a great glossary at the back of the book to learn about different words associated with the ship. While answering your questions, 882 1/2 Amazing Answers also pays tribute to those that lost their lives and the survivors. Ages: 9 - 12 $9.99
| 
