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NEW BOOKS!!

Our latest book order has come in! Plenty of books on our shelves to focus on reading for Read Across America Month.

Biography

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics by Robert K. Oermann
     For the first time ever, legendary singer-songwriter Dolly Parton brings you behind the lyrics of 175 of her songs to reveal the personal stories and vibrant memories that have inspired sixty years of songwriting. Lushly illustrated and told in Dolly's inimitable voice, this rich collection offers an intimate, exclusive look at the colorful life, prolific career, and rags-to-rhinestones journey of one of the most revered entertainers of our time

Non-Fiction

A Wealth of Pigeons: A Cartoon Collection by Steve Martin
     The multitalented comedian Steve Martin in his introduction to A Wealth of Pigeons: A Cartoon Collection. In order to venture into this lauded territory of cartooning, he partnered with the heralded New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss. Steve shared caption and cartoon ideas, Harry provided impeccable artwork, and together they created this collection of humorous cartoons and comic strips, with amusing commentary about their collaboration throughout. The result: this gorgeous, funny, singular book, perfect to give as a gift or to buy for yourself.

Fiction

The Push by Ashley Audrain 

    Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter—she doesn't behave like most children do.

Send for Me by Lauren Fox
     An achingly beautiful work of historical fiction that moves between Germany on the eve of World War II and present-day Wisconsin, unspooling a thread of love, longing, and the powerful bonds of family.

The Witch Elm by Tana French
     Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who’s dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life—he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family’s ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden—and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.

Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner

     A propulsive thriller featuring an ordinary woman who will stop at nothing to find the missing people that the rest of the world has forgtten ... Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. But she spends...

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
     From the number-one bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes a powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them.

The Survivors by Jane Harper
     Kieran Elliott's life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences. The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal community he once called home. Kieran's parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.

The Russian by James Patterson
     Investigating a trio of horrifying murders in three major U.S. cities against a backdrop of his impending nuptials, Detective Michael Bennett risks getting caught in a deadly trap set by a particularly elusive killer.

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
     Half-hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.

The Mask Falling (The Bone Season bk. 4) by Samantha Shannon
     From the New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Season and The Priory of the Orange Tree, the stunning fourth novel set in the world of Scion. Dreamwalker Paige Mahoney has eluded death again....

Young Adult

Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert
     In this companion book to "The Hazel Wood" and "The Night Country," the author presents a collection of dark fairy tales by Alice's reclusive grandmother Althea Proserpine.

Empire of Storms ( Throne of Glass, 5 ) by Sarah J. Maas
     The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those who don't.

Tower of Dawn ( Throne of Glass, 6 ) by Sarah J. Maas

       Chaol and Nesryn visit Antica hoping the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme can enable Chaol to walk again, and to persuade the rulers to ally with them to save Erilea.

Juvenile

The Lemonade War Three Books in One: The Lemonade War, the Lemonade Crime, the Bell Bandit by Jacqueline Davies

     Join the unforgettable brother-sister duo in this collected edition of the first three books from the bestselling Lemonade War series: The Lemonade War, the Lemonade Crime, and The Bell Bandit. Family, fairness, and lemonade!

Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog by Tom Watson

     Stick Dog and his friends return, and they're hungrier than ever! As the dogs embark on their quest for hot dogs, they learn they're not the only ones on a mission--a band of raccoons is following close behind, and they're ravenous, too! In this second book in the series, Stick Dog and his four friends, Poo-Poo, Mutt, Stripes, and Karen, must execute a master plan for stealing hot dogs.

Stick Dog Chases a Pizza by Tom Watson
     Stick Dog and his friends are on a funny quest for pizza! In the follow-up to Stick Dog and Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog, Stick Dog returns with the same crazy crew.

Easy

The World Needs More Purple People by Kristen Bell     

     What is a purple person? Great question. I mean, really great! Because purple people always ask really great questions. They bring their family, friends, and communities together, and they speak up for what's right. 

New Titles In February

We feature the materials that we have purchased on our blog every month. These titles are found in our New Books Section. We do add to our collection regularly from those items that are donated. Make sure to come in and visit.

BIOGRAPHY
Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews

In Home, the number one New York Times international bestseller, Julie Andrews recounted her difficult childhood and her emergence as an acclaimed singer and performer on the stage.

With this second memoir, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, Andrews picks up the story with her arrival in Hollywood and her phenomenal rise to fame in her earliest films--Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Andrews describes her years in the film industry -- from the incredible highs to the challenging lows. Not only does she discuss her work in now-classic films and her collaborations with giants of cinema and television, she also unveils her personal story of adjusting to a new and often daunting world, dealing with the demands of unimaginable success, being a new mother, the end of her first marriage, embracing two stepchildren, adopting two more children, and falling in love with the brilliant and mercurial Blake Edwards. The pair worked together in numerous films, including Victor/Victoria, the gender-bending comedy that garnered multiple Oscar nominations.

Co-written with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, and told with Andrews's trademark charm and candor, Home Work takes us on a rare and intimate journey into an extraordinary life that is funny, heartrending, and inspiring.

The Secret Lies Within: An Inside Out Look at Overcoming Trauma and Finding Purpose in the Pain by Anne Beiler

The Secret Lies Within in an inside-out look at the trauma and pain so many people experience in this lifetime and how breaking the silence is the first step to freedom.

Many people experience trauma or pain and keep it to themselves, letting it become a secret that holds them captive. They live with pain, blame, and shame, unsure of what to do or how to break free. The secrets grow, causing people to become increasingly silent while they hope and pray for better days, struggling to believe they will ever come.

The Secret Lies Within is an honest, vulnerable, and courageous narrative about nearly losing everything, breaking the silence of secrets, and finding purpose in pain. Auntie Anne Beiler, founder of the international franchise Auntie Anne’s pretzels, shares her journey through the loss of a child, sexual abuse, and the resulting trauma that haunted her for years, reminding readers they are not alone in their pain. Anne weaves brief stories of other brave individuals throughout her own and presents a picture of hope for those who have experienced trauma. Those with deep secrets of their own are encouraged to break their silence and are shown the power to overcome through confession and reach a whole new level of freedom.

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker who became a heroine of the Resistance, a survivor of Hitler's concentration camps, and one of the most remarkable evangelists of the twentieth century. In World War II she and her family risked their lives to help Jews and underground workers escape from the Nazis, and for their work they were tested in the infamous Nazi death camps. Only Corrie among her family survived to tell the story of how faith ultimately triumphs over evil.

Here is the riveting account of how Corrie and her family were able to save many of God's chosen people. For 35 years millions have seen that there is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still. Now The Hiding Place, repackaged for a new generation of readers, continues to declare that God's love will overcome, heal, and restore.

NON-FICTION

Doctor Dogs: How Are Best Friends Are Becoming Our Best Medicine by Maria Goodavage

In this groundbreaking book, Goodavage brings us behind the scenes of cutting-edge science at top research centers, and into the lives of people whose well-being depends on their devoted, highly skilled personal MDs (medical dogs). With her signature wit and passion, Goodavage explores how doctor dogs are becoming our happy allies in the fight against dozens of physical and mental conditions.

We meet dogs who detect cancer and Parkinson’s disease, and dogs who alert people to seizures and diabetic lows or highs and other life-threatening physical ailments. Goodavage reveals the revolutionary ways dogs are helping those with autism, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. And she introduces us to intrepid canines who are protecting us from antibiotic-resistant bugs, and to dogs who may one day help keep us safe from epidemic catastrophe. Their paycheck for their lifesaving work? Heartfelt praise and a tasty treat or favorite toy.

The emotional element in Doctor Dogs delivers as powerfully as the science. You don’t have to be a dog lover to care deeply about what these dogs are doing and what we are learning from them—although if you’re not a dog lover, you probably will be by the end of the book.

FICTION

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her - but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he's ever known.

So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia's proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the Deep South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North. Even as he's enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, Hiram's resolve to rescue the family he left behind endures.

This is the dramatic story of an atrocity inflicted on generations of women, men, and children - the violent and capricious separation of families - and the war they waged to simply make lives with the people they loved. Written by one of today's most exciting thinkers and writers, The Water Dancer is a propulsive, transcendent work that restores the humanity of those from whom everything was stolen.

Collision of Lies by Tom Threadgill

Three years ago, a collision between a fast-moving freight train and a school bus full of kids led to devastation and grief on an unimaginable scale. But a fresh clue leads San Antonio police detective Amara Alvarez to the unlikely conclusion that one of the children may still be alive. If she's correct, everything law enforcement believes about the accident is a lie.

With time running out, Amara must convince others--and herself--that despite all evidence to the contrary, the boy lives. And she will do everything in her power to bring him home.

A fresh voice in suspense, Tom Threadgill will have you questioning everything as you fly through the pages of this enthralling story.

Updated 9/11/2020 to include permalinks to the catalog

New Books in Biography

BIOGRAPHY
Reading about other people, those in modern times or those from the past, can always be interesting. We have one of each of those categories added to our collection this month.

Catherine the Great: last empress of Russia by Michael W. Simmons

Born an obscure German princess who suffered under the control of a domineering, narcissistic mother, the fourteen-year-old Princess Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst seemed to be destined for a minor marriage and a forgettable career. Destiny had other plans for her: summoned to Russia, then considered by most Europeans to be a vast, primitive wasteland, devoid of culture or sophistication, she became the Grand Duchess Ekaterina, wife of the future emperor Peter III.

What followed her short, unhappy marriage was a legendary rise to supreme power. At the age of 33, the Grand Duchess Catherine became the Empress Catherine II, ruler in her own right of the largest empire on earth.

In this book, you will learn how, during Catherine’s lonely years as a neglected wife in the court of the Empress Elisabeth, she bided her time and amassed the necessary political and military support to overthrow the heir to the Romanov dynasty and seize his throne. You will also learn why, over the course of her 34-year reign, which saw rebellions, foreign wars, popular uprisings, and a string of jealous lovers vying for her favor, she came to be remembered by history under the name conferred upon her by her own people: Catherine the Great.

Life is magic by Jon Dorenbos    

               You might recognize him as an NFL All-Pro or as an elite magician who made the finals of Amer­ica’s Got Talent and regularly appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. But Jon Dorenbos says that what he does is not who he is. Who he is, is someone forced, at the most tender of ages, to coach himself into turning tragedy to triumph.

One morning in August 1992, when Jon was twelve years old and living a seemingly idyllic childhood in suburban Seattle, he woke up for baseball camp. His dad waved good-bye. Later that day, Jon heard the news: his father had murdered his mother in the family’s three-car garage. In an instant, his life had shattered. He’d been essentially orphaned.

Thrust into foster care while his father stood trial for murder, Jon struggled.

Left to himself, he discovered an unlikely escape performing magic tricks. If you found a way to alter your reality after your dad—your hero—killed your mom, wouldn’t you cling to it too? Then came football, which provided a release for all of Jon’s pent-up anger. Together, magic and football saved him, leading to fourteen NFL seasons on the gridiron and raucous sleight-of-hand perfor­mances to packed houses across the globe.

In 2017, after being traded to the New Orleans Saints, Jon was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition. He had a choice: break down, or—as he’d long by now taught himself—bounce back. “Talk to yourself, don’t listen to yourself,” Dorenbos advises for those moments when the inner voice of self-doubt screams.

New Arrivals in the Biography Section

Biographies

Some stories have to be told, and some of those stories are about those people that really exist and have overcome things that the public never knew about. Stop by and check out these biographies.

Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon by Greg Laurie

Join Greg Laurie, pastor and bestselling author of Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon, as he takes you on a personal journey into the life and legend of Johnny Cash.

At the peak of his career, Cash had done it all—living the ultimate rags-to-riches story of growing up on a cotton farm in the Deep South to becoming a Nashville and Hollywood sensation, singing alongside heroes like Elvis Presley and performing for several American presidents.

But through all of this, Cash was troubled. By the time he released the iconic Man in Black album in 1971, the middle-aged icon was broken down, hollow-eyed, and wrung out.

In his search for peace, Cash became embroiled in controversy. He was arrested five times in seven years. His drug- and alcohol-induced escapades led to car accidents and a forest fire that devastated 508 acres. His time was divided between Jesus and jail, gospel tunes and the “Cocaine Blues.”

But by the end of his life, Cash was speaking openly about his “unshakable faith.” What caused the superstar to turn from his conflicting passions to embrace a life in Christ?

Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon dives deep into the singer’s inner demons, triumphs, and gradual return to faith. Laurie interviews Cash’s family, friends, and business associates to reveal how the singer’s true success came through finding the only Person whose star was bigger than his own.

Inside Out: A Memoir by Demi Moore

Famed American actress Demi Moore at last tells her own story in a surprisingly intimate and emotionally charged memoir.

For decades, Demi Moore has been synonymous with celebrity. From iconic film roles to high-profile relationships, Moore has never been far from the spotlight—or the headlines.

Even as Demi was becoming the highest paid actress in Hollywood, however, she was always outrunning her past, just one step ahead of the doubts and insecurities that defined her childhood. Throughout her rise to fame and during some of the most pivotal moments of her life, Demi battled addiction, body image issues, and childhood trauma that would follow her for years—all while juggling a skyrocketing career and at times negative public perception. As her success grew, Demi found herself questioning if she belonged in Hollywood, if she was a good mother, a good actress—and, always, if she was simply good enough.

As much as her story is about adversity, it is also about tremendous resilience. In this deeply candid and reflective memoir, Demi pulls back the curtain and opens up about her career and personal life—laying bare her tumultuous relationship with her mother, her marriages, her struggles balancing stardom with raising a family, and her journey toward open heartedness. Inside Out is a story of survival, success, and surrender—a wrenchingly honest portrayal of one woman’s at once ordinary and iconic life.

Permanent Record by Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.

In 2013, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United States government was secretly pursuing the means to collect every single phone call, text message, and email. The result would be an unprecedented system of mass surveillance with the ability to pry into the private lives of every person on earth. Six years later, Snowden reveals for the very first time how he helped to build this system and why he was moved to expose it.

Spanning the bucolic Beltway suburbs of his childhood and the clandestine CIA and NSA postings of his adulthood, Permanent Record is the extraordinary account of a bright young man who grew up online—a man who became a spy, a whistleblower, and, in exile, the Internet’s conscience. Written with wit, grace, passion, and an unflinching candor, Permanent Record is a crucial memoir of our digital age and destined to be a classic.