The term bird-watching first appeared in 1897, Merriam-Webster Dictionary first defined birding in 1901 and interest in the hobby has increased steadily since, as more and more people discover its pleasures. No special skill or equipment is needed, and birding can be enjoyed alone or in groups and at any age.

Please reserve your seat for this program by calling the Reference Desk at 781-246-6334, x2.

Reserve your seat for this and other programs in the Food for Thought Series by phoning 781-246-6334, x2.

On Wednesday, March 14, Chef Liz Barbour of The Creative Feast will present a live cooking demonstration, “Cooking from an Edible Garden.”

On April 3, Travelling Librarian Jeff Klapes will take you on a pictorial tour of edible Paris.

The series concludes on April 4 with Sol y Canto – Sabor y Memoria. With rhythms from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, Perú, Panamá and Venezuela, Brian and Rosi Amador, of the group Sol y Canto, present us with a musical and multi-media program about food and its relation to cultural identity and nostalgia for our cultural homes.

All programs in the Food for Thought Series will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall. All programs are free, but reserve your seats early as they are bound to fill up quickly.

Ahmad, Jamil. The wandering falcon.
“The Wandering Falcon begins with a young couple, refugees from the area between Afghanistan and Pakistan, fleeing the cruel punishments that come from going against the rigid tribal rules on love and marriage. Their son, Tor Baz, descended from chiefs and outlaws, becomes the Wandering Falcon, journeying among the tribes in their towns and tents, over the mountains and the plains.”–adapted from inside cover.

Altenberg, Karin. Island of wings. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Arriving in the St. Kilda islands in 1830 to serve as a minister to the small community, Neil McKenzie and his pregnant wife, Lizzie, struggle with life and their marriage in a climate that is beautiful but also extremely difficult.

Baer, Neal. Kill switch. [SUSPENSE]
Claire Waters is a young, dedicated forensic psychiatrist with unnervingly personal insights into the criminal mind. Haunted by a disturbing childhood incident–and driven by her demons–Claire has always been drawn to those rare “untreatable” patients who seem to have no conscience or fear. She has a natural ability to put people at ease, to help them face their darkest secrets. But one shocking case could make or break her career–and it’s waiting for her in the psychiatric wing of New York City’s Rikers Island.

Beck, Glenn with Nicole Baart. The snow angel.
Years after losing her mother in a car accident that rendered her father emotionally distant, Rachel resolves to escape from an abusive marriage to
protect her young daughter.

Bird, Sarah. The gap year.
A single mom and her seventeen-year-old daughter learn how to let go in that precarious moment before college empties the nest.

Bunn, T. Davis. Lion of Babylon. [SUSPENSE]
An American operative sent to rescue two vanished soldiers in Iraq finds himself in the midst of a centuries-old conflict of religion, violence, and hatred.

Cannell, Stephen J. Vigilante. [MYSTERY]
“Lita Mendez was a thorn in the LAPD’s side. An aggressive police critic and gang activist, she’d filed countless complaints against the department. So
when she’s found dead in her home, Detective Scully and his partner Hitchens fear the worst: that there’s a killer in their ranks. Outside the crime scene, Nixon Nash and his television crew have set up shop. Nash is the charismatic host of a hit reality show called “Vigilante TV,” dedicated to beating the cops at their own game: solving murders before they can. Now he has the murder of Lita Mendez in his sights. He presents the detectives with a choice: either join his team, or prepare for a public takedown. But Scully knows that Nash isn’t the folk-hero he seems. He will do anything in the name of self-promotion. If a detective got in his way, would he be prepared to kill? In this new novel, Scully will have to risk everything save himself and the job he loves”–Provided by publisher.

Clancy, Tom. Locked on. [SUSPENSE]
Coming out of retirement to run for president, Jack Ryan finds himself in the middle of a high-stakes attack from his opponent as his close comrade, John Clark, is the subject of treacherous charges, at the same time Jack Ryan, Jr. and other members of Campus struggle to stop terrorists.

Cook, Robin. Death benefit. [SUSPENSE]
Behind the prim gates of the Greenwich, Connecticut, McMansions, Wall Street whizzes turn their attentions from mortgages to another possible profit
source: the $25 trillion life-insurance industry. By securitizing the policies of the old and sick, they hope to make another financial killing. At the same time, Natalie Savondnik and Ronald Goodall-two exceptional yet aloof medical residents-are working closely with their medical center’s premier scientist on cutting-edge diabetes research. When their mentor dies suddenly, they launch a quiet investigation. As they dig deeper, it becomes clear that the scientist’s death was not from natural causes. Is it possible someone is manipulating private life insurance information to allow investors to benefit from the deaths of others?

Doetsch, Richard. Half-past dawn: a thriller. [LJ Top Ten Suspense 2011]
Waking up with suspicious injuries and no memory of the previous night, attorney Harper Keller is horrified to discover that he has been reported murdered and that his wife is missing.

Dunmore, Helen. The betrayal. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
St. Petersburg, Russia

Eco, Umberto. The Prague cemetery. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
19th-century Europe, from Turin to Prague to Paris, abounds with the ghastly and the mysterious. Jesuits plot against Freemasons. From the Dreyfus Affair to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the Jews are blamed for everything. One man connects each of these threads into a massive crazy-quilt conspiracy within conspiracies. Here, he confesses all, thanks to Umberto Eco’s ingenious imagination, a thrill-ride through the underbelly of actual, world-shattering events. — Provided by publisher.

Ellis, Robert. Murder season. [MYSTERY]
“Detective Lena Gamble knows how to handle the hottest cases–do it fast and keep her head down because if it all goes south, the department won’t
hesitate to make a scapegoat out of her. So when she gets called to the scene of a double murder at Club 3 AM, the A-list hangout for Hollywood celebs, she knows the fun is only beginning. And she’s not wrong. It’s just much worse than that. As expected, one of the victims is club owner Johnny Bosco, one of the most well -connected men in Hollywood politics. But the shocker comes when Lena sees the other: 25-year-old Jacob Gant, acquitted just days ago of murdering his 16-year-old neighbor, after L.A.’s latest trial-of-the-century. But are these victims of a father’s righteous anger or is something bigger at play? Robert Ellis’s third white-knuckled thriller delivers all the twists and turns fans have come to expect, with plenty more to spare”– Provided by publisher.

Gregson, Jessica. The angel makers. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
WWI Hungary

Griffin, W. E. B. Covert warriors. [SUSPENSE]
There’s an uneasy and unholy alliance building across the Caribbean. Few in the U.S. government want to believe that a Third World country and its chest-thumping leader could pose a credible threat-but then why are the Chinese helping to train its special forces? Why are the Russians helping to build a nuclear power plant? The presidential agent series; bk. 7.

Higgins, Jack. A devil is waiting. [SUSPENSE]
“A devil is indeed waiting. The President is coming to London, but not to an entirely warm welcome. A fanatical mullah is offering a blessing to anyone who will assassinate the President, and though most London Muslims think the mullah has crossed the line, a few think otherwise. Urgently, Sean Dillon, General Charles Ferguson, and the rest of the small band known as the “Prime Minister’s private army” are called in, augmented by an extraordinary new recruit, an intelligence captain and Afghan war hero named Sara Gideon. She has her own deep contacts, but the more she investigates, the more she discovers herself in a very dark place indeed. For the assassination plan is only the beginning. “– Provided by publisher.

Hill, Sean. Very short stories: 300 bite-size works of fiction.

Hoag, Tami. Down the darkest road. [SUSPENSE]
1980s California FBI agent Vince Leone taps into the powers of science-based forensic techniques to unveil dark secrets and stop a killer who is terrorizing the citizens of Oak Knoll. Third in the series.

Holt, Anne. 1222: a Hanne Wilhelmsen novel. [MYSTERY]
Norway

Hunter, Stephen. Soft target. [SUSPENSE]
A follow-up to Dead Zero finds retired marine sergeant Ray Cruz confronting a band of terrorists who have taken over the Mall of America, where they begin to systematically execute more than one thousand hostages.

James, P. D. Death comes to Pemberley. [MYSTERY]
It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth’s sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy’s sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball. But now, Pemberley is thrown into chaos after Elizabeth Bennett’s disgraced sister Lydia arrives and announces that her husband Wickham has been murdered.

Jepson, Duncan. All the flowers in Shanghai. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Shanghai, 1930s. Heroine Xiao Feng must take her dead sister’s place in an arranged marriage to Xiong Fa, a son from the prosperous Sang family.

Khoury, Raymond. The devil’s elixir. [SUSPENSE]
“Sean Reilly and Tess Chaykin return in an edge-of-your-seat story that reaches from the present day back to 1800s Mexico-and possibly beyond. What if there was an herb, previously lost to history in the jungles of Central America, capable of inducing an experience so momentous it might shake the very foundations of Western civilization?”– Provided by publisher.

Kingsbury, Karen & Gary Smalley. Rejoice.
Brooke Baxter has achieved everything this world has to offer–a prestigious career, a beautiful home, and two wonderful children. Her recent return to her faith is an encouragement to her family. But if she faces tremendous loss, can her fledgling faith and her rocky marriage survive?

Koontz, Dean R. 77 Shadow Street.
Once the center of madness, suicide, mass murder, and whispers of things far worse, the 1800s Gilded Age palace known as the Pendleton, has been re-christened in the 1970s as a luxury apartment building. But now inexplicable shadows caper across walls, security cameras relay impossible images, phantom voices mutter in strange tongues, not-quite-human figures lurk in the basement, and elevators plunge into unknown depths.

Lescroart, John T. The hunter. [SUSPENSE]
Raised by loving adoptive parents, San Francisco private investigator Wyatt Hunt never had an interest in finding his birth family–until he gets a chilling text message from an unknown number: “How did ur mother die?” The answer is murder, and urged on by curiosity and the mysterious texter, Hunt takes on a case he never knew existed, one that has lain unsolved for decades.

McCall Smith, Alexander. The forgotten affairs of youth.
Isabel Dalhousie helps a new friend discover the identity of her father. But Isabel also manages to find time for her own concerns: her young son, Charlie, already walking and talking; her housekeeper, Grace, whose spiritualist has lately been doubling as a financial advisor; her niece Cat’s latest relationship; and the pressing question of when and how Isabel and Jamie should finally get married.

Meister, Ellen. The other life.
Hiding the truth about her ability to cross into alternate realities where she has made different life decisions, a married and pregnant Quinn
Braverman learns that her unborn child will be disabled and glimpses into a
parallel life where she is married to someone else and childless.

Mercier, Pascal. Perlmann’s silence.
Translated from the German: psychological fiction

Michaels, Fern. Deadline.
No sooner have Toots Loudenberry and her three best friends–Sophie, Ida, and Mavis–returned from Sacramento, where Sophie provided some much-needed psychic advice to the First Lady of California, when another situation demands their attention… Laura Leigh, a Hollywood starlet whose main talent seems to be landing in trouble, is missing. Toots’ daughter, Abby, has both a personal and professional stake in the story. Not only is she editor-in-chief at gossip magazine The Informer, but entertainment attorney Chris Clay, Abby’s would-be beau, was the last person to see Laura. And now he’s missing, too. With the help of friends in high–and low–places, the Godmothers will navigate Hollywood’s glittering inner circles and seedy underbelly to discover the truth. Along the way, they’ll uncover unexpected secrets that not even one of Sophie’s séances could have predicted…Godmothers series; bk. 4.

Moriarty, Liane. What Alice forgot.
Amnesia in Australia

Nesbo, Jo. The leopard. [MYSTERY]
After two young women are found dead, both drowned in their own blood, Inspector Harry Hole is compelled to return to Norway to see his dying father
and to investigate the brutal crime, which may be the work of a serial killer.

Paretsky, Sara. Breakdown. [MYSTERY]
When the teenage daughters of some of Chicago’s most influential families discover the body of a ritually murdered victim, investigator Warshawski
explores theories that the killing is linked to a hostile media campaign against a senatorial candidate or a wealthy patriarch’s childhood in Nazi-occupied Lithuania.

Patterson, James & Maxine Paetro. Private: #1 suspect. [SUSPENSE]
Since former Marine helicopter pilot Jack Morgan started Private, it has become one of the world’s most powerful investigation firms, sought out by the rich and famous to discretely handle their most sensitive problems. Private’s investigators are the smartest, the fastest, and the most technologically advanced in the world, and they always uncover the truth. When a former lover is found murdered in Jack’s bed, he is instantly the number one suspect. While the police are investigating Jack, the mob strong arms him into recovering $30 million in stolen pharmaceuticals, and the beautiful manager of a luxury hotel chain persuades him to quietly investigate a spree of murders occurring on their properties. Fighting for his life on both sides of the law, Jack realizes that he may not be able to save himself this time. Contains more action, more intrigue, and more twists than ever before. Series; bk.2.

Phillips, Scott. The adjustment.
Returning veteran Wayne Ogden has trouble adjusting to civilian life back in Wichita, Kansas, and begins receiving poison pen letters hinting at his
secret wartime past.

Rasmussen, Rebecca. The Bird sisters.
As elderly women, sisters Twiss and Milly live alone in the house where they grew up in Spring Green, Wis. They spend their days tending to injured birds and roaming their land, lost in memories. For Milly, there is the constant reminder of what could have been. Twiss spent her childhood happily trailing behind their golf-pro father, but Milly dreamed about a family and children that never happened. There was hope for a young Milly, until an accident strips their father of his golfing abilities and sets in motion a series of events that rips apart the already unstable family.

Rayner, Sarah. One moment, one morning.
“The Brighton to London line. The 7:44 am train. Cars packed with commuters. One woman occupies her time observing the people around her. Opposite, a girl puts on her make-up. Across the aisle, a husband strokes his wife’s hand. Further along, another woman flicks through a glossy magazine. Then, abruptly, everything changes: a man collapses, the train is stopped, and an ambulance is called. For at least three passengers on the 7:44 on that particular morning, life will never be the same again. There’s Lou, in an adjacent seat, who witnesses events first hand. Anna, who’s sitting further up the train, impatient to get to work. And Karen, the man’s wife. Telling the story of the week following that fateful train journey, One Moment, One Morning is a stunning novel about love and loss, about family and – above all- friendship. A stark reminder that, sometimes, one moment is all it takes to shatter everything. Yet it also reminds us that somehow, despite it all, life can and does go on”–Provided by publisher.

Robards, Karen. Sleepwalker. [SUSPENSE]
While housesitting for her Uncle Nicco, policewoman Micayla Lange catches Jason Davis in the act of stealing money from her uncle’s locked safe. But when they both find incriminating photos that implicate Nicco in the murder of a city councilman, Mick and Jason hurtle into a race for their lives.

Roslund, Anders & Borge Hellström. Cell 8. [SUSPENSE]
An Ohio death row inmate, convicted of killing his 16-year-old girlfriend when he was 17 years old, dies of heart disease. Six years later, the police
arrest a Canadian expatriate living in Sweden for repeatedly kicking a drunken man in the head. A cantankerous Det. Supt. Ewert Grens of the Stockholm police discovers that the foreigner in their jail cell is a convicted murderer, the same death row inmate who supposedly died in America six years earlier.

Shapiro, Molly, Point, click, love.
“In Molly Shapiro’s fun and sexy debut novel, four women try to sort through the wild and complicated world of text messaging, status updates, and other high-speed connections. Best friends and fellow midwesterners Katie, Annie,
Maxine, and Claudia are no strangers to dealing with love and relationships, but with online dating and social networking now in the mix, they all have the feeling they’re not in Kansas anymore. Katie, a divorced mother of two, secretly seeks companionship through the Internet only to discover that the rules of the dating game have drastically changed. Annie, a high-powered East Coast transplant, longs for a baby, yet her online search for a sperm donor is not as easy–or anonymous–as she anticipates. Maxine, a successful artist with a seemingly perfect husband, turns to celebrity gossip sites to distract herself from her less-than-ideal marriage. And Claudia, tired of her husband’s obsession with Facebook, finds herself irresistibly drawn to a handsome co-worker. As these women navigate the new highs and lows of the digital age, they each find that their wrong turns lead surprisingly to the right click and, ultimately, the connection they were seeking”– Provided by publisher.

Smith, Tom Rob. Agent 6. [SUSPENSE]
“Former secret police agent Leo Demidov is thrown into a foreign conflict and is forced to question and confront everything he ever thought he knew about his country, his family, and himself”–Provided by publisher. Leo Demidov thrillers; bk. 3.

Spiegelman, Peter. Thick as thieves. [SUSPENSE]
Carr–ex-CIA–is the reluctant leader of an elite crew planning to take tens of millions of dollars belonging to a disgraced financier, Curtis Prager. But Carr’s seasoned pros are wound drum-tight–months before, the man who brought them together was killed in what Carr suspects was a setup.

Stevens, Taylor. The innocent: a Vanessa Michael Munroe novel. [SUSPENSE]
“Eight years ago, a man walked five-year-old Hannah out the front doors of her school and spirited her over the Mexican border, taking her into the
world of a cult known as The Chosen. For eight years, followers of The Prophet have hidden the child, moving her from country to country, shielding the man who stole her. Now, those who’ve searched the longest know where to find her. They are childhood survivors of The Chosen, thirty-somethings born and raised inside the cult who’ve managed to make a life for themselves on the outside. They understand the mindset, the culture within that world, and turn to Vanessa Michael Munroe for help, knowing that the only possibility of stealing Hannah back and getting her safely out of Argentina is to trust someone who doesn’t trust them, and get Munroe on the inside. Tautly written, brilliantly paced, and with the same evocation of the exotic combined with chilling violence that made The Informationist such a success, The Innocent confirms Taylor Stevens’ reputation as a thriller writer of the first rank”– Provided by publisher.

Tobar, Hector, The barbarian nurseries.
After the husband and wife that she works for disappear, live-in maid Araceli takes their two boys on a journey through sprawling Los Angeles to
locate their grandfather.

Weir, Ian. Daniel O’Thunder. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Set in the 1850s in London, England, this story, told through the interwoven voices of several narrators, relates the adventures of a troubled but
charismatic prize-fighting evangelist whose career finally takes him to British Columbia and the greatest match of his life when he challenges the Devil to a battle in the ring.

Wolff, Isabel. The very picture of you.
Female painter

Woods, Stuart. D.C. dead. [SUSPENSE]
“Stone Barrington, his former NYPD partner Dino Bachetti and CIA agent Holly Barker investigate a possible serial killer with ties to the White House”-
- Provided by publisher.

Looking for titles for the new ebook reader you received during the holidays? Beebe Library has a growing collection of ebooks to checkout online for free.

The collection has grown 35% in the last four months. Children’s picture book titles have recently been added, joining popular fiction, non-fiction, teen titles, children’s books and classics in the library’s online collection. All can be borrowed free of charge to residents of communities served by the North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE), and cardholders of participating college libraries by entering your library card number.

The library collection is compatible will all the major devices, including the Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, and the iPad and other tablets. In addition to ebooks, audiobooks are also available for the iPod and MP3 players.

A user can have up to four downloadable items checked out at the same time, any combination of e-books or audiobooks. Unlike audio downloads, ebooks can be “returned” early to access additional titles. There are no fines or overdues with the ebooks or audiobooks because the titles expire at the end of the loan period automatically.

The library ebook and audiobook service is funded by the 28 member libraries of NOBLE.

NOBLE is a non-profit founded by participating libraries thirty years ago to share resources and improve service and efficiency through shared automation.

Walkers and Talkers for children ages one and two takes place Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. starting January 10.

Story Times for Threes and Fours takes place Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. starting January 12.

Story Times for Fours and Fives takes place Fridays at 9:30 a.m. starting January 13.

The Winter 2 session concludes Friday February 17.
More info

*CURRENT STORY TIME SCHEDULES

• Lapsit (babies 3-12 months)
• Walkers & Talkers (12-35 months)
• Threes & Fours
• Fours & Fives

Here are a few examples of books you’ll find: Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder follows a pharmacologist who travels into the Amazon jungle in search of a rule-breaking doctor, who may have found a cure for infertility. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness may have inspired the plot of this riveting novel, but Patchett’s take on the clash between nature and civilization, and her fierce female scientists, are radiantly contemporary.
Martha’s Vineyard resident Geraldine Brooks’ Caleb’s Crossing is another popular choice. Once again, Brooks takes a remarkable shard of history and brings it to vivid life. In 1665, a young man from Martha’s Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Upon this slender factual scaffold, Brooks has created a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure.
Nonfiction titles on many lists include The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt. According to the Washington Examiner, “Harvard professor Greenblatt won the National Book Award for this spellbinding cultural history and deserves it. In his hands, the story of how a 15th-century Italian discovered an ancient Roman poem that paved the way for the Enlightenment becomes as warm and accessible as a campfire yarn.”
Another Massachusetts author is also on many of the lists: Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus III. Abandoned by his father at the age of 12, Dubus hardened himself for a new life filled with poverty, drugs and fistfights. In this moving and gritty memoir, the author of “House of Sand and Fog” shows how writing fiction ultimately led him away from violence, and helped him forge a new relationship with his father.
Children’s lists are rich in picture books: Valorie Fisher’s Everything I Need to Know before I’m Five and Jon Klasser’s I Want My Hat Back are among them. The blog has lists devoted to every genre and age group and is great fun to explore for reading suggestions.

If you have an opinion of what is the best book published in 2011, email Leane Ellis at the library: ellis@noblenet.org and we will publish the list on our website in January 2012. Please include why you think this title qualifies for the Best of 2011.

Click on the titles below to search the catalog 

Beattie, Ann. Mrs. Nixon: a novelist imagines a life.
Pat Nixon remains one of our most mysterious and intriguing public figures, the only modern first lady who never wrote a memoir. Beattie, like many of her generation, dismissed Richard Nixon’s wife as “interchangeable with a Martian.” But decades later, she wonders what it must have been like to be
married to such a spectacularly ambitious and catastrophically self-destructive man. Drawing on a wealth of sources from Life magazine to accounts by Nixon’s daughter, and his doctor, to The Haldeman Diaries and Jonathan Schell’s The Time of Illusion, Beattie reconstructs dozens of scenes in an attempt to see the world from Mrs. Nixon’s point of view.

Bessette, Alicia. A pinch of love.
After she joins a baking contest to try to shake off the lingering grief from her husband’s death, Zell Carmichael Roy befriends her nine-year-old next-door neighbor, a motherless girl who joins Zell’s quest for dessert-competition glory.

Brokaw, Charles. The Temple Mount code. [SUSPENSE]
“An old friend summons dashing linguistics professor Thomas Lourds to Jerusalem to examine an ancient text. But Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also wants the same document. Khamenei and many others believe that the book contains a secret that will allow its owner to rule all of Islam and wage a Global Jihad the likes of which has never been seen before. Arriving in Jerusalem, Lourds discovers that his friend has been murdered and his apartment ransacked. With the help of Miriam Abata, a beautiful Iranian-American Jewish graduate student, he races against the clock to seek the dangerous document: Lourds seeks to save civilization while his enemies hope to destroy it. Continuing the New York Times bestselling series that includes The Atlantis Code and The Lucifer Code, The Temple Mount Code will appeal to readers interested in history and treasure hunting in the Holy Land and is perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Brad Meltzer, James Rollins, and Steve Berry.”–Provided by publisher.

Buchanan, Edna. A dark and lonely place. [MYSTERY]
A century ago, when Indians and alligators roamed frontier Miami, the legendary John Ashley was accused of murder and sentenced to hang. He went on the run with his sweetheart, Laura. Their crime spree lasted years longer and became far more deadly than the exploits of Bonnie and Clyde a decade later. This is their true story of prison breaks, bootlegging, bank robberies, and piracy on the high seas. Their saga of love, passion, and violence is juxtaposed with the story of their fictional descendants who share the same love and dangers a hundred years later. In today’s Miami, Homicide Sergeant John Ashley investigates a millionaire’s spectacular murder and instantly recognizes a stunning model linked to the case as the girl who has haunted his dreams since childhood. The homicide case goes bad, Ashley is falsely accused of murder, and the new lovers go on the run as history repeats itself. The question is, how powerful is the past?–From publisher description.

Coffey, Billy. Paper angels.
Andy Sommerville seems no different than others in his rural Virginia community, but what sets him apart is that his best friend is an angel.

Cohen, William S. Blink of an eye. [SUSPENSE]
Nuclear terrorism from former Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton.

Connelly, Michael. The drop. [MYSTERY]
LAPD detective Harry Bosch simultaneously investigates a killer who has been operating undetected for thirty years and a political conspiracy that has its origins in his police department. Harry has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD, and he wants cases more fiercely than ever. In one morning, he gets two. DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Was he an eight-year-old killer or has something gone terribly wrong in the new Regional Crime Lab? The latter possibility could compromise all of the lab’s DNA cases currently in court. Then Bosch and his partner are called to a death scene fraught with internal politics. Councilman Irvin Irving’s son jumped or was pushed from a window at the Chateau Marmont. Irving, Bosch’s longtime nemesis, has demanded that Harry handle the investigation. Relentlessly pursuing both cases, Bosch makes two chilling discoveries: a killer operating unknown in the city for as many as three decades, and a political conspiracy that goes back into the dark history of the police department.

Cornwell, Patricia Daniels. Red mist. [MYSTERY]
Kay Scarpetta returns.

Crichton, Michael with Richard Preston. Micro. [SUSPENSE]
Biological thriller completed after Crichton died.

Doherty, P. C. The Templar magician. [MYSTERY]
Robert de Payens, grandson of Eleanor, one of the co-founders of the Temple, and Englishman Edward Sendal find themselves caught up in a murder mystery when Raymond, Count of Tripoli, is brutally assassinated.

Gabaldon, Diana. The Scottish prisoner. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Lord John Grey–soldier, gentleman, and no mean hand with a blade–fights for his crown, his honor, and his own secrets. Set in the heart of the eighteenth century during the Seven Years’ War.

Garlock, Dorothy. Come a little closer. [ROMANCE]
It’s 1946, after the end of WWII, and Christina Tucker decides to take a nursing job in the small town of Longstock, Wisconsin, working with Dr. Samuel Barlow. Dr. Barlow is well-regarded by the people of Longview, except for one man: Morris Doyle. Morris believes that his younger brother Jimmy died as a result of Barlow’s shoddy care and he is determined to punish the doctor for what he’s done — even if it means hurting those the doctor loves most, including Christina Tucker.

Grafton, Sue. “V” is for vengeance. [MYSTERY]
California PI Kinsey Millhone investigates the death of Audrey Vance, a woman she helped arrest for shoplifting, and antagonizes just about everyone, including Audrey’s fiance, several loan sharks, a stone-cold killer, and a hapless burglar who knows more than is healthy for him.

Hall, James W. Dead last. [MYSTERY]
Thorn series

Harrison, Rashad. Our man in the dark. [SUSPENSE]
An historical noir novel about a worker in the civil rights movement who became an informant for the FBI during the months leading up to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Haynes, Dana. Breaking point. [SUSPENSE]
Follow-up to Crashers.

Hill, Susan. The betrayal of trust: a Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler mystery.
When a series of flash floods throughout Lafferton exposes the skeleton of a teenager who went missing 20 years earlier, Simon Serrailler investigates the girl’s tragic family story and uncovers bizarre complexities and dangers.

James, Erica, Promises, promises. [ROMANCE]
Love triangle

James, Peter, Dead man’s grip. [MYSTERY]
“Carly Chase is still traumatized ten days after being in a fatal traffic accident which kills a teenage student from Brighton University. Then she receives news that turns her entire world into a living nightmare. The drivers of the other two vehicles involved have been found tortured and murdered. Now Detective Superintendent Roy Grace of the Sussex Police force issues a stark and urgent warning to Carly: She could be next. The student had deadly connections. Connections that stretch across the Atlantic to America and an organized crime group. Someone has sworn revenge and won’t rest until the final person involved in that fateful accident is dead. The police advise Carly her only option is to go into hiding and change her identity. The terrified woman disagrees. She knows these people have ways of hunting you down anywhere. If the police are unable to stop them, she has to find a way to do it herself. But already the killer is one step ahead of her, watching, waiting, and ready”– Provided by publisher.

Jensen, Nancy, The sisters.
Growing up in hardscrabble Kentucky in the 1920s, with their mother dead and their stepfather an ever-present threat, Bertie Fischer and her older sister Mabel have no one but each other–with perhaps a sweetheart for Bertie waiting in the wings. But on the day that Bertie receives her eighth-grade diploma, good intentions go terribly wrong. A choice made in desperate haste sets off a chain of misunderstandings that will divide the sisters and reverberate through three generations of women.

Johansen, Iris. Bonnie. [SUSPENSE]
“When Eve Duncan gave birth to Bonnie, she experienced a love she never knew existed. Eve’s entire life came into focus and nothing was going to stand in the way of giving her daughter a wonderful life–the kind of life she herself never experienced. And then, the unthinkable happened. On an ordinary class trip to a local park, seven-year-old Bonnie vanished. Eve found herself in the throes of a nightmare that permeated her days and nights, and from which there was no escape. But a new Eve emerged: a woman who would use her remarkable talent as a forensic sculptor and her passion for helping others to find closure when the unthinkable happens to their child. A woman who would stop at nothing to find her own daughter’s killer and bring her body home. A woman with both justice and vengeance on her mind. Finally, in the trilogy that began with EVE and continued with QUINN, comes the story that fans have been dying to read. With the help of her beloved Joe Quinn and CIA Agent Catherine Ling, Eve Duncan gets closer and closer to answering the questions that have tormented her. But the deeper she digs, the more she realizes that Bonnie’s father, John Gallo, is a key player in solving this monstrous puzzle. And that Bonnie’s disappearance was not as random as everyone had always believed. Eve, Joe, Catherine, and John find themselves in a deadly dance where answers will be uncovered, and justice might finally be served– if they can all stay alive long enough to make it happen”– Provided by publisher.

Katsu, Alma. The taker. [SUSPENSE]
Vampire historical love story

Kelby, N. M. White truffles in winter. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Auguste Escoffier, 1846-1935 — for foodies

King, Stephen, 11/22/63.
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? The author’s new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history. Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students, a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night fifty years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk. Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane, and insanely possible, mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life, a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

Kingsbury, Karen. Longing. [ROMANCE]
“After a long and lonely silence from Cody Coleman, Bailey Flanigan becomes closer to her one-time Hollywood co-star, Brandon Paul. Nights on the town in New York City and long talks on the balcony of Brandon’s Malibu Beach home make Bailey dizzy with new feelings. Meanwhile, Cody’s work coaching a small-town football team has brought him and his players national attention. In the midst of the celebration and success, Cody finds himself much closer to a woman who seems to better understand him and his new life. Even so, never does much time go by without Bailey and Cody experiencing deep feelings of longing for each other, longing both for the past and for answers before they can move forward. Will an unexpected loss be the turning point for Cody? Will Cody and Bailey find a way back together again for the first time in more than a year? And if they do, will their brief time together be enough to help them remember all they’ve been longing for?”– Provided by publisher. Bailey Flanigan series; bk. 3

Maguire, Gregory. Out of Oz: the final volume in the Wicked years.
Glinda, former Throne Minister, held under house arrest by General Cherrystone, obtains the infamous Grimmerie, supposedly a volume of magical lore, coveted by Oz. Meanwhile, Lir’s daughter Rain begins her quest to discover her true identity and unravel the layers of political and personal secrets that have caused strife and division in Oz.

Marshall, Bev. Right as rain. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
“Though the women are as different as water and wine. Icey is feisty, hot-tempered, and impulsive, while Tee Wee is more submissive and disciplined–both are driven by a passionate determination to give their children a better life. Through trying times, they are the pillars, fierce and resilient; yet they celebrate life with a love of food, music, and family that makes even the most traumatic moments endurable. The illicit love between Tee Wee’s daughter Crow and the white landowner’s son Browder; the heartbreaking death of one of Icey’s children, for which she will blame herself; the murder trial of Tee Wee’s youngest son which threatens to tear apart not just their family but the entire town–all these events are interwoven with occasions of joy, including Crow’s fulfillment of her lifelong dream and Tee Wee’s own hard-fought success.” –Publisher description.

Murakami, Haruki, 1Q84. [SCIENCE FICTION]
An ode to George Orwell’s “1984″ told in alternating male and female voices relates the stories of Aomame, an assassin for a secret organization who discovers that she has been transported to an alternate reality, and Tengo, a mathematics lecturer and novice writer.

Nadzam, Bonnie. Lamb.
Lamb traces the self-discovery of David Lamb, a narcissistic middle aged man with a tendency toward dishonesty, in the weeks following the disintegration of his marriage and the death of his father. Hoping to regain some faith in his own goodness, he turns his attention to Tommie, an awkward and unpopular eleven-year-old girl. Lamb is convinced that he can help her avoid a destiny of apathy and emptiness, and even comes to believe that his devotion to Tommie is in her best interest. But when Lamb decides to abduct a willing Tommie for a road trip from Chicago to the Rockies, planning to initiate her into the beauty of the mountain wilderness, they are both shaken in ways neither of them expects.

Patterson, James, Kill Alex Cross. [SUSPENSE]
Detective Alex Cross is thwarted at every turn while he attempts to investigate the abduction of the president’s son and daughter and also discovers a deadly contagion released in the capital’s water supply that foreshadows a larger, more devastating attack.

Perry, Jolene B. The next door boys. [ROMANCE]
While Leigh Tressman recovers from her recent cancer treatments, she follows her brother Jaron to BYU where she meets and falls in love with his roommate.

Picardi, John C. Oliver Pepper’s pickle.
Crushed by his wife’s infidelity, suffocated by his sister and her new-age boyfriend, and harassed by all the friends and strangers who think his salvation depends on a crazy self-help book, Oliver Pepper’s life is in comic disarray. Then, at an AA meeting, he meets Rosa, a sexy public school principal. Hoping to date her, he agrees to teach a riotous middle-school class. At Rosa’s school, Oliver meets two troubled boys. By helping them, he comes to terms with the traumatic death of his father and discovers a capacity for bringing unadulterated goodness–even beauty–into his world.

Pollock, Donald Ray, The devil all the time. [SUSPENSE]
This novel reads like a gothic Western as lawlessness roams the rural, god-fearing landscape of Ohio and West Virginia, inhabitated by the likes of Pollock’s deranged-yet-compelling cast of characters–a husband and wife who take vacations to murder hitchhikers, a faux preacher and his crippled accomplice on the lam for manslaughter, and an orphan with a penchant for exacting violent justice. Needless to say, this is a brutal novel, but Pollock exacts the kind of precision and control over his language that keeps the violence from ever feeling gratuitous. The three story lines eventually converge in a riveting moment that will leave readers floored and haunted.

Rankin, Ian. The impossible dead. [MYSTERY]
A major inquiry into a neighboring police force sees Malcolm Fox and his colleagues cast adrift, unsure of territory, protocol, or who they can trust. An entire station-house looks to have been compromised, but as Fox digs deeper he finds the trail leads him back in time to the suicide of a prominent politician and activist. There are secrets buried in the past, and reputations on the line. Sequel to The complaints.

Russell, Paul Elliott. The unreal life of Sergey Nabokov. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Biograhical look at Vladimir Nabokov’s gay brother

Santiago, Esmeralda. Conquistadora. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Plantation saga in Puerto Rico

Skibell, Joseph. A curable romantic. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
When Dr. Jakob Josef Sammelsohn arrives in Vienna in the 1890s, he happens to meet Sigmund Freud, has a series of affairs, is haunted by the ghost of his abandoned wife, and eventually ends up in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940. His Candide-like adventures illuminate a Europe moving between a new scientific age and age-old superstitions and beliefs. NOTE = Includes interview with the author and discussion questions.

Steele, Pamela, Greasewood creek.
Examination of grief

Stefaniak, Mary Helen. Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
In 1938, eleven-year-old Gladys Cailiff watches as her new teacher, Miss Grace Spivey, puts the entire town in an uproar. Miss Spivey has some unusual teaching methods, which include reading from her multi-volume set of The Thousand Nights and a Night. But when Miss Spivey revives an old festival and turns the town into a replica of Baghdad, the lives of Gladys and everyone around her are touched.

Thurlo, Aimee. Black thunder: an Ella Clah novel. [MYSTERY]
“A construction crew found the first body. The cops found three more, in a cluster that lay on both sides of the border of the Navajo Reservation. Because some of the bodies were buried outside the Rez, Navajo Police Special Investigator Ella Clah and her team must work a delicate joint investigation with the New Mexico police. Identifying the dead isn’t easy–some had been buried for years–and at first the cases look to be nothing but dead ends. Then one of the bodies turns out to be that of a missing man who was believed to have embezzled funds from his construction firm and suspicions focus on the man’s partner. With no obvious links between any of the corpses and the anniversary of their deaths fast approaching, Ella feels frustrated by the investigation’s lack of progress. Unless they can find what connects these victims, someone else may soon be killed. Ella’s ability to concentrate is battered by worries about her teenage daughter, who has been skipping school, and her mother, who is cooking up a storm, a sure sign that trouble is brewing in the household.”– Provided by publisher.

Urbach, Linda. Madame Bovary’s daughter. [HISTORICAL FICTION]

White, Karen S. The strangers on Montagu Street.
“Psychic realtor Melanie Middleton returns-only to be greeted by a house full of lost souls. Psychic realtor Melanie Middleton is still restoring her Charleston house and doesn’t expect to have a new houseguest, a teen girl named Nola. But the girl didn’t come alone, and the spirits that accompanied Nola don’t seem willing to leave… “– Provided by publisher.

Wiehl, Lis W. Waking hours. [SUSPENSE]
The East Salem trilogy; bk. 1/forensic horror

Winer, Andrew. The marriage artist.
Searching for the meaning behind his wife’s suicide with her (suspected) lover, art critic Daniel Lichtmann discovers a link to pre-World War II Vienna, forgotten artist Josef Pick, and a remarkable woman.

Woodhouse, Kimberley, Race against time. [SUSPENSE]
A teenage girl in Alaska witnesses a murder with FBI and top-secret military information connections that winds its way back to the racing dog kennel she runs with her mother.