New Books 9/25/17

Truth can be stranger than fiction, or at least as fascinating, as two of this week’s selections prove.  Love and other consolation prizes is inspired by a true story of a baby who was raffled off at Seattle’s epic 1909 World’s Fair. The Unquiet Grave is based on the bizzare 1897 case of the Greenbrier Ghost.  And if you are in the mood to whip up a dessert two new cookbooks, BraveTarts and The Perfect Cookie, will help you do just that!

All the Secret Places by Anna Carlisle
Follows M.E. Gin Sullivan’s investigation when a body is unearthed in her small hometown.

BraveTart:  Iconic American Desserts by Stella Parks
An award-winning pastry chef and a James Beard Award-nominated writer for Serious Eats presents a collection of recipes and variations that celebrates the history of American desserts, from chocolate chip cookies and ice-cream sodas to toaster pastries and blueberry muffins.

The Chalk Artist by Allegra Goodman
A disarming chalk artist who thinks nothing of erasing his dazzling work and an idealistic teacher who believes that things are meant to last forge an unlikely romance marked by her powerful father’s virtual reality company and a brilliant but unstable student who is obsessed with video games

A Column of Fire by Ken Follett
A half-century love affair between a man in service to Elizabeth I and a woman on the opposing side of England’s religious divide is challenged by violent ideological power shifts, torn loyalties and the queen’s circle of spies, in a latest entry in the best-selling series that includes The Pillars of the Earth.

The End of Alzheimer’s by Dale Bredesen
Bredesen draws on scientific research and clinical results to outline a groundbreaking plan to prevent and reverse Alzheimer’s Disease and cognitive decline through strategic lifestyle modifications designed to address specific contributing metabolic imbalances.

Every Night I Dream of Hell by Malcolm MacKay
Newly appointed security consultant Nate Colgan finds himself at a crossroads in a power war involving a mysterious rival gang and the mother of his child, while a highly skilled detective inspector investigates local uprisings to prevent a full-scale organizational war.

Forest Dark by Nicole Krauss
Giving away all of his personal possessions after retiring, a once-ambitious man embarks on a journey to honor his parents in Israel, where a blocked writer is drawn into a mystery that alters her life in unimaginable ways.

Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed
Starving herself to fend off adulthood in a radical post-apocalypse community where a few chosen men scavenge for detritus and women are little more than breeders, a teen leader investigates a shocking mystery before risking her life to organize a girl uprising.

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz
Accepting help from investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist to uncover the truth about her traumatic childhood, Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo, navigates dangerous obstacles in the form of an anti-Muslim gang, her mafia-connected twin and the conductors of a sinister pseudoscientific experiment.

Golden Hill: A Novel of Old New York by Francis Spufford
When a mysterious man shows up at the countinghouse in 1746 New York with an order for a huge sum of money, the local colonial merchants can’t decide if they should trust him, befriend him, arrest him, seduce him, or kill him.

Guinness World Records 2018 by Guinness World Records
A new edition of a full-color favorite incorporates thousands of new entries of broken records, hundreds of new photographs, highlights of classic records, infographics and much more, in an edition that has superheroes as a running theme.

Lightning Men by Thomas Mullen
Officers Smith, Rake and Boggs and their sergeant navigate volatile racial tensions in 1950 Atlanta, including Rake’s once-white neighborhood’s violent efforts to force out Smith’s black family and an upsurge in drug territory wars.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
When a custody battle divides her placid town, straitlaced family woman Elena Richardson finds herself pitted against her enigmatic tenant and becomes obsessed with exposing her past, only to trigger devastating consequences for both families.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford
A half-Chinese orphan whose mother sacrificed everything to give him a better chance is raffled off as a prize at Seattle’s 1909 World’s Fair, only to land in the ownership of the madam of a notorious brothel where he finds friendship and opportunities, in a story based on true events.

The Perfect Cookie by America’s Test Kitchen
America’s Test Kitchen aggregates many years of cookie baking knowledge, breaking down key steps and recipe techniques in this comprehensive cookbook that features recipes for any cookie you can dream up–from favorite cookie jar classics to new and unique cookies, brownies, bars, and candies for any occasion.

Phasma: Journey to Star Wars by Delilah S. Dawson
An original tale linked to the “Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi” program reveals the story of Captain Phasma and the origins of the mysterious chrome stormtrooper.

The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve by Stephen Greenblatt
The National Book Award-winning author of The Swerve investigates the enduring story of humanity’s biblical first parents, examining the tale’s indelible influence as well as the considerable theological, artistic and cultural investments of centuries that have made Adam and Eve profoundly resonant in all major world religions.

Robert B. Parker’s the Hangman’s Sonnet by Reed Farrel Coleman
Struggling to hold himself together through Suitcase Simpson’s wedding while grieving the loss of his fiancee, Jesse Stone investigates the death of an elderly woman whose demise may be linked to the disappearance of a master recording tape by a decades-reclusive music genius.

Romanov Ransom by Clive Cussler
Sam and Remi Fargo investigate a kidnapping that may be linked to the Nazi-stolen Romanov ransom, a case complicated by the acts of a guerrilla faction whose mission is to establish the Fourth Reich.

Solar Bones by Mike McCormack
A man’s spirit ruminates on his life and all the entwined events and circumstances in the vast systems of time and history that lead him to that exact moment.

Ties that Bind by Cindy Woodsmall
Haunted by memories of families that have left her Old Order Amish community, Ariana discovers her incompatibility with a man she hoped to marry before learning a shocking truth about the night her twin brother and she were born.

The Unquiet Grave by Sharyn McCrumb
A tale based on the bizarre 1897 case of the Greenbrier Ghost follows the “talking therapy” of an asylum inmate, a black attorney who decades earlier helped to defend a white man on trial for the murder of his young bride, who famously implicated her husband from beyond the grave.

The Western Star by Craig Johnson
Sheriff Walt Longmire navigates a violent convergence of his past and present during a parole hearing for one of the most dangerous men he has ever met, a criminal whose thirst for vengeance threatens everyone Walt cares about and echoes complicated dynamics from a Vietnam-era sheriff’s convention.

Why Buddhism Is True by Robert Wright
Philosophically explains how the human mind evolved to channel anxiety, depression, anger, and greed and how a healthy practice of Buddhist meditation can promote clarity and alleviate suffering

Without Fear or Favor by Robert K. Tanenbaum
When a police officer shoots the son of a respected inner-city Baptist preacher, a public outcry for harsh justice pits prosecuting attorney Butch Karp and his wife, Marlene Ciampi, against a radical organization of armed militants who begin targeting uniformed cops.