New books

Adult Non-Fiction

"Facebook for Dummies" by Carolyn Abram - From the Back Cover - Find out how to maximize your Facebook experience. Create a Facebook profile that enhances your real-world relationships. Facebook For Dummies shows how to create a profile, communicate with friends, play with Facebook applications, and explore the unique ways Facebook can improve your business.

"Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto" by Mark R. Levin - a new manifesto for the conservative movement for the 21st century. In a series of powerful essays, Levin lays out how conservatives can counter the liberal corrosion that has filtered into every timely issue affecting our daily lives, from the economy to health care, global warming, immigration, and more -- and illustrates how change, as seen through the conservative lens, is always prudent, and always an enhancement to individual freedom. -- Amazon product description

"The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War" by David Halberstam - Up until now, the Korean War has been the black hole of modern American history. The Coldest Winter changes that. Halberstam gives us a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides. -- Amazon review

"Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities" by Elizabeth Edwards - “Short but surprisingly deep…It's a small book but a powerful one. And when you finish it you have not just a deeper understanding of Elizabeth Edwards but also a better appreciation for the strength of will it can take to survive.” –Los Angeles Times

Adult Fiction
"City of Thieves" by David Benoff - From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Author and screenwriter Benioff follows up The 25th Hour with this hard-to-put-down novel based on his grandfather's stories about surviving WWII in Russia. Benioff blends tense adventure, a bittersweet coming-of-age and an oddly touching buddy narrative to craft a smart crowd-pleaser.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"Just Take My Heart" by Mary Higgins Clark - A compelling novel that probes the mysteries of the human heart and mind, Just Take My Heart is Mary Higgins Clark's most spellbinding tale. -- Amazon product description

"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford -- From Booklist - Ford vacillates between a front story dominated by nostalgia and a backstory dominated by fear. The front story struggles to support the weight of the backstory, and the complexity Ford brings to the latter is the strength of this debut novel, which considers a Chinese American man’s relationship with a Japanese American woman in the 1940s and his son in the 1980s.” --Kevin Clouther

"Still Alice" by Lisa Genova - From Publishers Weekly
Neuroscientist and debut novelist Genova mines years of experience in her field to craft a realistic portrait of early onset Alzheimer's disease. )
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"Summer on Blossom Street" by Debbie Macomber - From Booklist - Macomber’s new Blossom Street novel begins in Lydia’s store, A Good Yarn, located in downtown Seattle. Lydia has a new class, “Knit to Quit,” for people who need to redirect their energies while trying to quit negative habits. Macomber’s typical strengths are at full capacity in this must-read for her fans, who will find their emotions fully engaged and completely satisfied. --Maria Hatton

"Vision in White" by Norah Roberts - From Booklist - After blending paranormal and fantasy elements in her last four romance trilogies, consistently engaging Roberts returns to basics and her literary roots. The result is a thoroughly charming contemporary romance that neatly showcases this reigning romance author’s flair for sharp, clever writing and realistically complicated characters in a compelling celebration of the power of friendship and love. --John Charles

Mystery
"First Family" by David Baldacci - It began with what seemed like an ordinary children's birthday party.
This party, however, was far from ordinary. It was held at Camp David, the presidential retreat. And it ended with a daring kidnapping . . . which immediately turned into a national security nightmare.
Sean King and Michelle Maxwell were not looking to become involved. As former Secret Service agents turned private investigators, they had no reason to be.
With Michelle still battling her own demons, and forces aligned on all sides against her and Sean, the two are pushed to the absolute limit. In the race to save an innocent victim, the line between friend and foe will become impossible to define . . . or defend. - Amazon product description

"Cold in Hand" by John Harvey - From Publishers Weekly - Starred Review. Charlie Resnick, the jazz-loving police detective, makes a welcome and brilliant return. A pair of murder investigations form a knotty tangle, the first a gang dispute resulting in a fatal shooting, the second the murder of an East European prostitute imported for the sex trade. As always, Harvey handles the police procedural aspects with easy competence. But the characterization shines brightest as the thoroughly decent, competent Charlie navigates the treacherous waters of his profession that threaten to swamp his personal life.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"True Detectives" by Jonathan Kellerman - From Publishers Weekly
PI Aaron Fox and L.A. cop Moe Reed, interracial half-brothers, take center stage in Kellerman's routine 24th Alex Delaware novel. When Fox, who used to work for the LAPD, looks into the missing-persons case of 20-year-old Caitlin Frostig, he runs into conflict with Reed. The brothers end up pursuing some predictable lines of inquiry, checking out Rory Stoltz, Frostig's college boyfriend, as well as links to a filmmaker, Lem Dement, who's suspected of domestic abuse.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Juvenile Fiction

"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins - From Booklist - *Starred Review* This is a grand-opening salvo in a new series by the author of the Underland Chronicles. Populated by three-dimensional characters, this is a superb tale of physical adventure, political suspense, and romance. Grades 9-12. --Francisca Goldsmith

"Kenny & the Dragon" by Tony DiTerlizzi -
What do you do when your new best buddy has been designated a scourge by the community and marked for imminent extermination? Just ask Kenny Rabbit. When the simple folks in the sleepy little village of Roundbrook catch wind that there's a dragon running loose in the countryside, they get the wrong idea and the stage is set for a fight to the death. So it's up to Kenny to give his neighbors front-row seats to one of the best-known battles in history -- the legendary showdown between St. George and the dragon -- without losing a friend in the fray. -- Amazon product description

"This is What I Did" by Ann Dee Ellis - "This is an original story, and it's told in an offbeat and original style... Reluctant readers will particularly appreciate the blend of provocative story and approachable format, which readers in general will find much to discuss in this thoughtful story." - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)

"Moonlight on the Magic Flute" by Mary Pope Osborne - From Booklist
Jack and Annie find themselves in eighteenth-century Vienna on a mission from Merlin: find a brilliant artist and put him or her on the right path. Their search is hampered by the insistent attentions of a six-year-old boy, Wolfie. After suspending their quest in order to help him, they discover that in doing so, they have completed their mission. Written with the ready charm and childlike spirit of adventure that make the Magic Tree House series a continuing favorite, this chapter book weaves historical details of Mozart’s Vienna into a tale of magic and mystery. Lively black-and-white illustrations enhance the book’s appeal. Grades 2-4. --Carolyn Phelan

Juvenile Non-Fiction
"The Mysterious Universe" by Ellen Jackson - From Booklist - This entry in the consistently top-notch Scientists in the Field series remains honest about less-than-glamorous aspects of the featured career, its enthusiastic approach will bring even disillusioned stargazers right back into the fold. Splitting its attention evenly between the scientist and his field, this handsomely designed volume displays the joys of being fascinated by one’s work in a way that will encourage students to seek similar professional satisfaction for themselves. Grades 5-8. --Ian Chipman