New books for Adults
Alex Cross must die
Patterson, James, 1947- author
2023
As detectives Alex Cross and John Sampson race to prevent another mass murder, their fearsomely armed opponent once again looks skyward. A plane just crashed and exploded on the runway. The chief and the FBI want Sampson there pronto. The weapon that took down the plane is a remote-controlled Vietnam-War-era machine gun. The list of those who possess the training and expertise to operate the stolen, .50-caliber weapon is short. And time runs even shorter.
The ball at Versailles : a novel
Steel, Danielle, author
2023
It's the summer of 1959 and the Palace of Versailles is hosting an event that will make history. It is an exclusive dusk-to-dawn ball in which a select group of American and French debutantes will be presented to international society and royalty. Four young women, all with something to prove, receive what some see as the invitation of a lifetime. Amelia Alexander, who hopes to eventually attend law school, hesitates to participate in what she sees as an archaic and privileged tradition. But her indomitable widowed mother, Jane, who's struggled financially and sacrificed for a career, encourages her to attend. Jane would do anything for Amelia to have the chance at a happily ever after. Felicity Smith is equally uncertain about the ball. Although her family is prominent in the Dallas social scene, Felicity prefers to keep to herself, avoiding the older sister who torments her. But to get out of her sister's shadow, Felicity decides to accept. If it's a success, the tables will have turned at last. For Caroline Taylor, the beautiful ingénue and daughter of Hollywood legends, the ball is an irresistible opportunity. But an unexpected heartbreak just before she leaves for France gets things off to a bad start. Then there's Samantha Walker, an art history major with an overprotective father. Her excitement about the invitation is overshadowed by the emotional and physical effects of a past tragedy that still haunts her. For all these young women, Paris and one transcendent night will change their lives forever.
Beautiful and terrible things : faith, doubt, and discovering a way back to each other
Butler, Amy (Rev. Dr.)
2023
"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid," said theologian Frederick Beuchner. Pastor Amy Butler, the first woman at the helm of New York's historic Riverside Church, knows firsthand that to navigate such a world, one must be courageous, honest, and compassionate. In Beautiful and Terrible Things, Pastor Amy draws on the most meaningful, challenging, and soul-shaking moments of her own life to offer larger lessons on theology and relationships. Pastor Amy grew up in a conservative Evangelical family in the diverse culture of the Hawaiian Islands. As she realized she was more inclined to be a pastor than to marry one, she began an unlikely journey, breaking one stained-glass ceiling after another. Holding increasingly high-profile ministry positions in New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and New York City, Amy weathered rigidly unwelcoming congregations and enormous trials, ultimately learning that only the radical love of community could generate healing. As she describes her experiences leading a church to publicly affirm its LGBTQ community members, losing a child, and undergoing an unexpected divorce, Amy offers a thoughtful lens on all the ways life can push us to see the world from another's perspective. In her signature compassionate, witty voice, she offers fresh, nonjudgmental perspectives on faith--which, at its most beautiful expression, allows for the possibility that there is more than one way to experience God.
Bookshops & bonedust
Baldree, Travis, 1977- author.
2023
"Viv's career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam's Ravens isn't going as planned. Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she's packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk--so far from the action that she worries she'll never be able to return to it. What's a thwarted soldier of fortune to do? Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn't possibly imagine. Still, adventure isn't all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected."-- Provided by publisher.
The circumference of the world
Tidhar, Lavie.
2023
"Delia Welegtabit discovered two things during her childhood on a South Pacific island: her love for mathematics and a novel that isn't supposed to exist. But the elusive book proves unexpectedly dangerous. Oskar Lens, a science fiction-obsessed mobster in the midst of an existential crisis, will stop at nothing to find the novel. After Delia's husband Levi goes missing, she seeks help from Daniel Chase, a young, face-blind book dealer. The infamous novel Lode Stars was written by the infamous Eugene Charles Hartley: legendary pulp science-fiction writer and founder of the Church of the All-Seeing Eyes. In Hartley's novel, a doppelganger of Delia searches for her missing father in a strange star system. But is any of Lode Stars real? Was Hartley a cynical conman on a quest for wealth and immortality, creating a religion he did not believe in? Or was he a visionary who truly discovered the secrets of the universe?"-- Provided by publisher.
Drawing digital : the complete guide to learning to draw & paint on your iPad
Bardot, Lisa, author.
2023
"In Drawing Digital, artist and teacher Lisa Bardot, the expert behind @Bardot Brush, introduces the art of digital drawing. Using your tablet and Procreate, or another favorite drawing app, you can leave behind your pencil and paper and make art anywhere and at any time." Amazon.com.
Gator country : deception, danger, and alligators in the Everglades
Renner, Rebecca.
2023
"David Grann meets Susan Orlean in this page-turning true story of an underground operation into the mysterious world of alligator poaching and its larger than life Floridian characters To catch a Florida Man, you have to become one, and that's what Officer Jeff Babauta did. As his ponytailed, whiskey-soaked alter ego, he established Sunshine Alligator Farm. His goal? Infiltrate the shady world of illegal poachers in the Florida Everglades in order to protect the natural world. A head-spinning adventure soon unfolds. Jeff deals with glow-in-the-dark alligators and high-speed airboat rides, but quickly learns that not all poachers are villains. They're simply people trying to survive, fighting against the poverty and greed holding them down. Jeff wants to solve the mystery of alligator poachers, and in doing so he must venture deeper into a strange ecosystem where right is wrong, and justice comes at the cost of those who've welcomed him into their world. Gator Country is the twisting true story of the impossible choices individuals must make to stay afloat in this world. Through its wholly unique blend of reporting, nature writing, and personal narrative, this book transports readers to vibrant and dangerous Florida landscapes and offers intimate portraits of those who call the region home. Broad in scope and vivid in detail, Gator Country is a fast paced tale of the risks people will take to survive in one of the world's most beautiful yet formidable landscapes and the undercover investigation that threatens to topple the whole scheme"-- Provided by publisher.
Goodbye, Eri
Fujimoto, Tatsuki, author, illustrator
2023
"Yuta's moviemaking career started with a request from his mother to record her final moments. After her death, Yuta meets a mysterious girl named Eri, who takes his life in new directions. The two begin creating a movie together, but Eri is harboring an explosive secret."--Cover.
Held : a novel
Michaels, Anne, 1958-
2023
1917. On a battlefield near the River Aisne, John lies in the aftermath of a blast, unable to move or feel his legs. Struggling to focus his thoughts, he is lost to memory--a chance encounter in a pub by a railway, a hot bath with his lover on a winter night, his childhood on a faraway coast--as the snow falls. 1920. John has returned from war to North Yorkshire, near another river--alive, but not whole. Reunited with Helena, an artist, he reopens his photography business and endeavours to keep on living. But the past erupts insistently into the present, as ghosts begin to surface in his pictures: ghosts whose messages he cannot understand. So begins a narrative that spans four generations, moments of connection and consequence igniting and re-igniting as the century unfolds.
House plant : practical advice for all house plants, cacti, and succulents
Bailey, Fran, author.
2023
Take your house plant collection to the next level with Houseplant. Discover the best varieties to suit your home from more than 330 profiles on every kind of houseplant you can imagine, from succulents and cacti to orchids, bromeliads, and even carnivorous plants.
How Canada works : the people who make our nation thrive
Mansbridge, Peter, author
2023
In this latest collection of personal stories, Peter Mansbridge and former CBC producer Mark Bulgutch shine a light on the everyday jobs that keep our nation running and the inspiring people who perform them with empathy and kindness. Though Canada is still very much a work in progress, this enlightening book celebrates how we are greater than the sum of our parts by championing the people that make our country great.
Inheritance
Roberts, Nora, author
2023
1806: Astrid Poole sits in her bridal clothes, overwhelmed with happiness. But before her marriage can be consummated, she is murdered, and the circle of gold torn from her finger. Her last words are a promise to Collin never to leave him... Graphic designer Sonya MacTavish is stunned to learn that her late father had a twin he never knew about--and that her newly discovered uncle, Collin Poole, has left her almost everything he owned, including a majestic Victorian house on the Maine coast, which the will stipulates she must live in it for at least three years. Her engagement recently broken, she sets off to find out why the boys were separated at birth--and why it was all kept secret until a genealogy website brought it to light. Trey, the young lawyer who greets her at the sprawling clifftop manor, notes Sonya's unease--and acknowledges that yes, the place is haunted...but just a little.
The jazz club spy : a novel
Rich, Roberta, author
2023
New York, 1938. Giddy Brodsky knows she's lucky to have a job as a cigarette girl at a Manhattan jazz club, but she dreams of opening her own beauty shop and lifting her family out of poverty. While focused on the future, the past comes flooding back when she recognizes one of the Cossacks who irrevocably changed her life. Determined to get justice, she enlists the help of Carter van der Zalm, the director of the Department of Immigration at Ellis Island. Not everyone is who they appear to be - and Giddy finds herself embroiled in a political conspiracy that could bring America into the war in Europe.
Just once : a novel
Kingsbury, Karen, author.
2023
"In 1941, beautiful Irvel Ellis is too focused on her secret to take much notice in the war raging overseas. She's dating Sam but in love with his brother, Hank, and Irvel has no idea how to break the news when the unthinkable happens-Pearl Harbor is attacked. With their lives turned upside down overnight, Sam is drafted, and Hank wants to enlist. But Sam insists Hank stay home, where he and Irvel take up the battle on the home front. While Sam fights in Europe, an undeniable chemistry builds between Irvel and Hank but neither would dare cross that line. Then a telegram comes, and the news is devastating. Hank enlists the next day and has just two weeks until he ships out. Will either brother make it home alive? Or will Irvel lose everything? And can love find a way, even from the ashes of the greatest heartbreak?"-- Provided by publisher.
Letter to my transgender daughter
Hays, Carolyn, author
2023
One ordinary day, a caseworker from the Department of Children and Families knocked on the Hays family's door to investigate an anonymous complaint about the upbringing of their transgender child. This book asks us all to love better, not just for the sake of Hays's child but for children everywhere enduring injustice and prejudice just as they begin to understand themselves. A call to action, an ode to community, a plea for empathy, a hope for a better future. This is a love letter to a child who has always known exactly who she is - and who is waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.
Lore Olympus. Volume 5
Smythe, Rachel (Comics artist), author, artist.
2023
It is Persephone's birthday, and she receives the ultimate gift: Hades confesses his desire for her, leading to their first kiss. But that doesn't necessarily make things easier for the goddess of spring, who is still in over her head in gossip-driven Olympus. Persephone feels intense guilt over the official breakup between Hades and Minthe, she is struggling to find her footing in her fast-paced job, and-worst of all-the shades of her past are slowly coming to light.
Mayo Clinic A to Z health guide : what you need to know about signs, symptoms, diagnosis & treatment
2023
Ordinary notes
Sharpe, Christina Elizabeth, author.
2023
A singular achievement, Christina Sharpe explores with immense care profound questions about loss, and the shapes of Black life that emerge in the wake. In a series of 248 brief and urgent notes that gather meaning as we read them, Sharpe skillfully weaves artifacts from the past with present-day realities and possible futures, intricately constructing an immersive portrait of everyday Black existence. A deeply moving, intellectually bracing exploration of pain and beauty, private memory and public monument, art and complexity in contemporary Black life.
Past lying
McDermid, Val, author
2023
It's April 2020 and Edinburgh is in lockdown, but that doesn't mean crime takes a holiday. It would seem like a strange time for a cold case to go hot - the streets all but empty, an hour's outdoor exercise the maximum allowed - but when a source at the National Library contacts DCI Karen Pirie's team about documents in the archive of a recently deceased crime novelist, it seems it's game on again. What unspools is a twisted game of betrayal and revenge, but no one quite expects how many twists it will turn out to have.
The proof of the pudding
Bowen, Rhys, author
2023
Sir Mortimer Mordred - famous author of creepy Gothic horror novels - has recently purchased a nearby Elizabethan manor because it has a famous poison garden. Sir Mortimer approaches Lady Georgiana Rannoch and asks to borrow her new chef for his upcoming party. The tour of the poison garden is fascinating, as is Sir Mortimer's laboratory. Shockingly, just after the banquet several of the guests become sick. And one dies, apparently poisoned by berries from the garden. Georgie has to find the culprit to save her new chef and her own reputation.
Same bed different dreams : a novel
Park, Ed, 1970- author.
2023
A wild, sweeping novel that imagines an alternate secret history of Korea and the traces it leaves on the present - loaded with assassins and mad poets, RPGs and slasher films, pop bands, and the perils of social media
Small worlds
Nelson, Caleb Azumah, author
2023
Set over the course of three summers, follow Stephen, a first-generation Londoner born to Ghanian immigrant parents, brother to Ray, and best friend to Adeline. On the cusp of big life changes, Stephen feels pressured to follow a certain path - a university degree, a move out of home - but when he decides instead to follow his first love, music, his world and family fractures in ways he didn't foresee. Now Stephen must find a path and peace for himself: a space he can feel beautiful, a space he can feel free.
Storytelling in presentations for dummies
Lindsell-Roberts, Sheryl, author.
2024
You'll learn how to cull stories from your own experiences, and before you know it, you'll have more stories than Aesop has fables. You'll learn about the latest presentation software, so you can integrate visuals into your presentations and avoid the dreaded "Death by PowerPoint." You'll also learn how to deal with challenging on-the-spot situations, deliver investor pitches and executive briefs, and present a paper at a conference. Additionally, find out how to deliver someone else's content and make it your own. This book will help you level up anywhere you need to present information by mastering the art of savvy presentations--the most effective business communications tools of our time.
This house of grief : the story of a murder trial
Garner, Helen, 1942-
2023
On the evening of 4 September 2005, Robert Farquharson, a separated husband, was driving his three sons home to their mother when his car plunged into a dam. The boys, aged ten, seven, and two, drowned. Was this an act of deliberate revenge or a tragic accident? The court case became Helen Garner's obsession. She was in the courtroom every day of Farquharson's trial and subsequent retrial, along with countless journalists and the families of both the accused and his former wife. In this utterly compelling book, Helen Garner tells the story of a man and his broken life. At its core is a search for truth that takes author and reader through complex psychological terrain. Garner exposes, with great compassion, that truth and justice are as complex as human frailty and morality.
Unbottled potential : break up with alcohol and break through to your best life
Kuda, Amanda.
2023
"A life-changing guide for going alcohol-free, manifesting success, and planting the seeds for an extraordinary life. As sober personal development coach Amanda Kuda can attest, you don't need to have a drinking problem for alcohol to be holding you back. Like a lot of successful young professionals, her life was a carousel of opportunities to drink that ultimately left her feeling unfulfilled in her spirit, relationships, and career. She didn't hit "rock bottom" or need a recovery program, but she did need a change. It was only when Kuda tried Dry January that she realized sobriety was the linchpin to a better life. In a culture that treats alcohol as a cure-all to subdue anxiety, grieve, and celebrate, she found that cutting it out helped her--and later, her clients--feel truly well and finally reach her full potential. Whether you are looking to break up with the bottle or just find a less volatile relationship with alcohol, this meditation manifesto will set a solid foundation for you to: renegotiate how you feel about drinking connect to your inner child set new boundaries finally achieve your relationship and career goals With an approach rooted in psychology and spiritual study, Unbottled Potential will challenge you to open your mind to the extraordinary possibilities of an alcohol-free life"-- Provided by publisher.