July 29, 2008
WOW! Something Really, Really New!!! iPod Touch
Yes, your library has 3 iPod Touch for use in the library. Come to air-conditioned splendor and listen to some great music, an interesting lecture, see a movie, and more...You can check out earphones for a day to use while you are in the library, or buy your own pair for $1.50. And, of course, you can bring your own.
If you've never used an iPod, here is your chance!
New Books - Non-Fiction
At the Center of the Storm. My Years at the CIA - George Tenet
Reviewed by Bob Woodward of The Washington Post.
In his remarkable, important and often unintentionally damning memoir, George Tenet, the former CIA chief, describes a meeting with Condoleezza Rice, then national security adviser, two months before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In much more vivid and emotional detail than previously reported, Tenet writes that he had received intelligence that day, July 10, 2001, about the threat from al-Qaeda that "literally made my hair stand on end."
Why Women Should Rule the World - Dee Dee Myers
Everything could change, according to former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers. Politics would be more collegial. Businesses would be more productive. And communities would be healthier. Empowering women would make the world a better place—not because women are the same as men, but precisely because they are different.
Last Child in the Woods. Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder - Richard Louv
"[The] national movement to 'leave no child inside'…has been the focus of Capitol Hill hearings, state legislative action, grass-roots projects, a U.S. Forest Service initiative to get more children into the woods and a national effort to promote a 'green hour' in each day…The increased activism has been partly inspired by a best-selling book, Last Child in the Woods, and its author, Richard Louv." - The Washington Post (The Washington Post )
American Islam. the Struggle for the Soul of a Religion - Paul M. Barrett
Paul M. Barrett's well wrought and engaging new book, American Islam, seeks to change perceptions by providing an intimate group portrait of Muslim Americans as they struggle to combat the threats, prejudices and stereotypes that have dogged them since 9/11. Barrett, a longtime Wall Street Journal reporter who's now at BusinessWeek, uses his journalistic skills to insinuate himself into the lives of his subjects -- no easy task in a time of heightened suspicions. The book traces the lives of seven American Muslims, from the wily Dearborn, Mich., publisher and political activist Osama Siblani to the energetic journalist and Islamic feminist Asra Nomani, whose crusade to tear down the wall of separation between men and women in her Morgantown, W.Va., mosque made her a media superstar in the United States and, to her surprise, a scourge in her own community. Reviewed by Reza Aslan of The Washington Post .
Shattered Dreams, Broken Promises. The Cost of Coming to America - Michael Viner
Viner traveled to various Eastern European countries to interview women of all ages and circumstances who are willing to do anything to get to America. The revealing and often unsettling tales of these women, told in their own words, shine a light on a growing population in the U.S.
On My Own: The Art of Being a Women Alone - Florence Falk
“Florence Falk’s On My Own is a provocative, smart read for any woman who is alone, wants to be alone, or is figuring out how to be alone. An empowering, emotionally honest book that is long overdue.”
—Amy Sohn, author of Run Catch Kiss and My Old Man
New Books - Fiction
The Host - Stephanie Meyer
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Change of Heart - Jodi Picoult
Picoult's story tackles a triple-whammy of hot-button issues--the death penalty, bioethics, and religious freedom. Shay, a condemned inmate--who, incidentally, exhibits a striking resemblance to the new Messiah--wishes to donate his heart to the sister of his murder victim after he is executed. A mesmerizing page-turner, CHANGE OF HEART examines the topic of religious dogma against the plight of a child's struggle with life and death.
Barefoot - Elin Hildebrand
Three women arrive at the local airport, observed by Josh, a Nantucket native home from college for the summer. Burdened with small children, unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues, the women-- two sisters and one friend--make their way to the sisters' tiny cottage, inherited from an aunt. They're all trying to escape from something...
The Third Angel - Alice Hoffman
The Third Angel represents yet another strong, visceral and deeply, darkly moving tale of love and heatbreak, tragedy and redemption from a writer whose keen ear for the measure struck by the beat of the human heart is unparalleled. The Third Angel is an intense, provocative and throughly affecting novel.” — The Chicago Tribune
Alibi Man - Tmi Hoag
Last seen in bestseller Hoag's Dark Horse, Elena Estes, a former undercover cop turned PI, is devastated at the start of this captivating thriller when she realizes a body she finds in a south Florida canal is that of her friend Irina Markova, a beautiful groom with whom she once worked at a horse stable. Assisted by ex-lover Det. James Landry, the tough-as-nails Elena immerses herself in Irina's murder investigation. - Reed Business Information
Third Degree - Gred Iles
Iles's new thriller injects both depth and novelty into a genre convention—the jealous husband who's tipped off to his wife's infidelity.
Mudbound - Hillary Jordan
Told in alternating chapters by Laura, Henry, Jamie, Ronsel, and his parents, Florence and Hap, the story unfolds with a chilling inevitability. Jordan's writing and perfect control of the material lift it from being another "ain't-it-awful" tale to a heart-rending story of deep, mindless prejudice and cruelty. This eminently readable and enjoyable story is a worthy recipient of Kingsolver's prize and others as well. --Valerie Ryan
Compulsion: An Alex Delaware Novel - Jonathan Killerman
Once again, the depths of the criminal mind and the darkest side of a glittering city fuel #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman’s brilliant storytelling. And no one conducts a more harrowing and suspenseful manhunt than the modern Sherlock Holmes of the psyche, Dr. Alex Delaware.
July 22, 2008
New DVDs
Cave of the Yellow Dog
Lady Sings the Blues
Michael Clayton
Camille Claudel
Everything You Always Wanted
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Edward Sissorhands
Roxanne
Deer Hunter
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Dangerous Liaisons
Defiant Ones
Dial M for Murder
ET
Silkwood
When Harry Met Sally
Year of Living Dangerously
New Books - Non-Fiction
Losing It - And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time - Valerie Bertinelli
In Losing It, this popular veteran of numerous TV films entertainingly recaps her continuing fight against flab by placing it in the context of her often-troubled personal life, including the end of her 20-year marriage to rock star Eddie Van Halen. This memoir speaks candidly about the joy of motherhood and what it was like to be the wife of a music legend.
Life Among the Dead - Lisa Williams, TV's favorite medium, psychic and clairvoyant
Warm, witty, and surprising, Life Among the Dead is a wonderfully intimate account of Lisa's life as a medium, healer, wife, mom, and TV star who has already won the hearts of millions,a woman with an astonishing gift for seeing beyond the ordinary and into a mysterious and fascinating realm.
Be the Pack Leader - Cesar Millan with Melissa Jo Peltier
Use Cesar's way to transform your dog...and your life. Be the Pack Leader</i> is filled with practical tips and techniques.
Eden's Outcasts, the Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father - John Matteson
Bronson Alcott filled hundreds of pages with minute observations of his infant daughters, believing that fatherhood was the ideal laboratory for testing his beliefs in the natural genius of children and a holistic mode of education. Yet he was baffled by the willfulness of his second-born, Louisa May. And so begins the dramatic father-daughter relationship on which first-time biographer Matteson so adeptly builds a riveting double portrait of two exceptional Americans and abolitionists.
New Books - Fiction
The Best Poems of the English Language . Selected with Commentary by Harold Bloom
This comprehensive anthology attempts to give the common reader possession of six centuries of great British and American poetry. The book features a large introductory essay by Harold Bloom called "The Art of Reading Poetry," which presents his critical reflections of more than half a century devoted to the reading, teaching, and writing about the literary achievement he loves most.
My Sister, My Love - Joyce Carol Oates
Oates revisits in fantastic fashion the JonBenet Ramsay murder, replacing the famous family with the Rampikes
The Spies of Warsaw - Alan Furst
An autumn evening in 1937. A German engineer arrives at the Warsaw railway station. Tonight, he will be with his Polish mistress; tomorrow, at a workers’ bar in the city’s factory district, he will meet with the military attaché from the French embassy. Information will be exchanged for money. So begins The Spies of Warsaw, the brilliant new novel by Alan Furst, lauded by The New York Times as “America’s preeminent spy novelist.”
Down River - John Hart
Hart surpasses his bestselling debut, The King of Lies (2006), with his richly atmospheric second novel, which offers a tighter plot, more adroit pacing and less angst. Five years earlier, Adam Chase was arrested for murder, largely on the basis of his stepmother's sworn testimony against him. He was acquitted, but nearly everyone, including his father, still thinks he did it, and Adam's deep bitterness has kept him away from home ever since. Now, at the request of a childhood friend, he's back in Salisbury, N.C... (Publishers Weekly)
Hand of Evil- J.A. Jance
In this latest book of the series featuring the ex-anchorwoman Ali Reynolds, the mystery begins when an elderly woman finds a brutally mutilated corpse while taking her daily walk in Arizona. Is it just a coincidence that, later that day, Ali is summoned to tea with the most powerful woman in her hometown? Once again, Ali is on the trail of a killer...but will she survive to recount the tale on her popular blog, cutlooseblog.com?
July 15, 2008
New Books - Non-Fiction
The Forger's Spell - Edward Dolnick
As riveting as a World War II thriller, The Forger's Spell is the true story of Johannes Vermeer and the small-time Dutch painter who dared to impersonate him centuries later. The con man's mark was Hermann Goering, one of the most reviled leaders of Nazi Germany and a fanatic collector of art.
How the States Got their Shapes - Martin Stein
Packed with fun oddities and trivia, this entertaining guide also reveals the major fault lines of American history, from ideological intrigues and religious intolerance to major territorial acquisitions. Adding the fresh lens of local geographic disputes, military skirmishes, and land grabs, Mark Stein shows how the seemingly haphazard puzzle pieces of our nation fit together perfectly.
I Still Have It ... I Just Can't Remember Where I Put It - Rita Ruder
So put on your bifocals and power up your sense of humor! Just don’t blame Rita when your laugh lines get visibly deeper. Refreshingly honest and undeniably hilarious, I Still Have It . . . I Just Can’t Remember Where I Put It is a laugh-out-loud look at the wonders and the surprises of life on the dark side of fifty.
What God Hath Wrought. The Transformation of America, 1815 - 1848 - Daniel Walker Howe
In What Hath God Wrought, historian Daniel Walker Howe illuminates the period from the battle of New Orleans to the end of the Mexican-American War, an era when the United States expanded to the Pacific and won control over the richest part of the North American continent.
A Voyage Long and Strange. Rediscovering the New World - Tony Horwitz
"Funny and lively. . . Popular history of the most accessible sort.... The stories Horwitz tells are full of vivid characters and wild detail." - The New York Times Book Review
Free Lunch. How The Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You With the Bill)- David Cary Johnston Johnston, a New York Times investigative reporter, has spent his 40-year career exposing collusion between government officials and private sector entities as they enrich the rich and ignore consequences for middle-class laborers and the poor.
New Books - Fiction
Rogue - Danielle Steel
“Steel keeps the pages turning and offers a satisfying twist at the book’s end that most readers won’t see coming.”—Publishers Weekly
The Broken Window - Jeffery Deaver
From Publishers Weekly: In bestseller Deaver's entertaining eighth Lincoln Rhyme novel (after The Cold Moon), Rhyme, a forensic consultant for the NYPD, and his detective partner, Amelia Sachs, take on a psychotic mastermind who uses data mining—the business of the twenty-first century—not only to select and hunt down his victims but also to frame the crimes on complete innocents.
Tail Spin - Catherine Coulter
“Coulter, one of the best romantic suspense authors, is in top form, providing readers with a pulse-pounding mystery that continues until the breathless conclusion.” --Library Journal
Where Are You Now? - Mary Higgins Clark
It has been ten years since twenty-one-year-old Charles MacKenzie Jr. ("Mack") went missing. A Columbia University senior, about to graduate and already accepted at Duke University Law School, he walked out of his apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side without a word to his college roommates and has never been seen again. However, he does make one ritual phone call to his mother every year: on Mother's Day. Each time, he assures her he is fine, refuses to answer her frantic questions, then hangs up. Even the death of his father, a corporate lawyer, in the tragedy of 9/11 does not bring him home or break the pattern of his calls.
Nothing To Lose - Lee Child
“Explosive and nearly impossible to put down.”—People
Plague Ship - Cliva Cluster
Plague Ship is a high-stakes, high-seas journey that proves once again that Cussler is just about the best storyteller in the business. - New York Post
The Reapers - John Connolly
As a small boy, Louis witnesses an unspeakable crime that takes the life of a member of his small, southern community. He grows up and moves on, but he is forever changed by the cruel and brutal nature of the act. It lights a fire deep within him that burns white and cold, a quiet flame just waiting to ignite. Now, years later, the sins of his life are reaching into his present, bringing with them the buried secrets and half-forgotten acts of his past.
Tortilla Chronicles, Growing up in Santa Fe - Marie Romero Cash
One of the main characters is Santa Fe itself, and the narrative tours the city's streets, shops, plaza, and surrounding hills and arroyos in astounding detail. The ancestry and rituals of family life, the culture and religion of northern New Mexico, and the growth of a neighborhood and its children are all part of the recipe.
New Computers
VGPL has 2 new i-Macs. We are waiting for the graphics software. They will be up and running soon for graphic design use.
July 8, 2008
New Books - Non-Fiction
Audition - A Memoir - Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters has spent a lifetime auditioning:for her bosses at the TV network, for millions of viewers, for the most famous people in the world, and even for her own daughter. This book in some ways, is her final audition, as she fully opens up both her private and public lives. In doing so, she has given us a story that is heartbreaking and honest, surprising and fun, sometimes startling, and always fascinating.
New Books - Fiction
The Venetian Betrayal - Steve Berry
In 323 B.C.E., having conquered Persia, Alexander the Great set his sights on Arabia, then suddenly succumbed to a strange fever. Locating his final resting place - unknown to this day-remains a tantalizing goal for both archaeologists and treasure junters. Now the quest for this coveted prize is about to heat up. And Cotton Malone- former U.S. Justice Department agent turned rare book dealer-will be drawn into an intense geopolitical chess game.
Amazing Grace - Danielle Steel
The lives of four unforgettable characters collide in Danielle Steel's compelling new novel as a shocking natural transforms each of them forever.
So Brave, Young, and Handsome - Leif Enger
The author's new novel is a touching, nimble, and rugged story of an aging train robber on a quest to reconcile the claims of love and judgment on his life, and the failed writer who goes with him.
The Other - David Guterson
From the author of the best-selling Snow Falling on Cedars, a dazzling new novel about youth and idealism, adulthood and its compromises, and two powerfully different visions of what it means to live a good life.
The Outlaw Demon Wails - Kim Harrison
New York Times bestselling author, Kim Harrison returns to the sinister and seductive Hollows for the newest blockbuster adventure featuring Rachel Morgan, witch and bounty hunter...
New Books on CD
Star Trek: Captain's Glory - written and read by William Shatner
With Captain William Riker of the Starship Titan caught in the cross fire of the conflict between Kirk and Picard, and with Kirk's own child poised on the brink of a startling destiny millions of years in the making, Kirk must prepare for his final encounter with the Totality. But how can Kirk fight an enemy whose greatest weapon is love? And how can he triumph, when the price of victory is the life of his only child?
The Painted Veil - W. Somerset Maugham. Read by Kate Reading
This novel tells of a shallow, young adulterous whose bacteriologist husband takes her to a remote area of China ravaged by a cholera epidemic, where their propinquity and peril in battling the health crisis leads to her spiritual awakening.
The Shack - William P. Young. Read by Roger Mueller
Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!
Resolution - Robert B. Parker. Read by Titus Welliver
After the bloody confrontation in Appaloosa, Everett Hitch heads into the afternoon sun and ends up in Resolution, an Old West town so new the dust has yet to settle. It’s the kind of town that doesn’t have much in the way of commerce, except for a handful of saloons and some houses of ill repute. Hitch takes a job as lookout at Amos Wolfson’s Blackfoot Saloon and quickly establishes his position as protector of the ladies who work the backrooms—as well as a man unafraid to stand up to the enforcer sent down from the O’Malley copper mine.
The Hollow - Nora Roberts. Book Two of the Sign of Seven Trilogy. Read by Marie Caliendo
For Fox, Caleb, Gage and the other residents of Hawkins Hollow, the number seven portends doom - ever since, as boys, they freed a demon trapped for centuries when their blood spilled upon The Pagan Stone. Their innocent bonding ritual led to seven days of madness, every seven years. And now, as the dreaded seventh month looms before them, the men can feel the storm brewing. Already they are plagued by visions of death and destruction. But this year, they are better prepared, joined in their battle by three women who have come to The Hollow. Layla, Quinn, and Cybil are somehow connected to the demon, just as the men are connected to the force that trapped it.
The Beach House - Jane Green. Read by Cassandra Campbell
Known in Nantucket as the crazy woman who lives in the rambling house atop the bluff, Nan doesn’t care what people think. At sixty-five-years old, her husband died twenty years ago, her beauty has faded, and her family has flown. If her neighbors are away, why shouldn’t she skinny dip in their swimming pools and help herself to their flowers? But when she discovers the money she thought would last forever is dwindling and she could lose her beloved house, Nan knows she has to make drastic changes.