New Books 4/3/17

This week’s lineup offers bestselling authors including Debbie Macomber, J.A. Jance, and Bruce Feiler.  It includes the first in a new sci-fi series by John Scalzi as well as the latest in continuing series by Anne Perry and Randy Wayne White.  There are also offerings on end-of-life care, mental health care and more!

Between Heaven and the Real World by Steven Curtis Chapman
Christian music legend Steven Curtis Chapman shares an intimate account of his person life, his family relationships and the stories behind some of the most beloved songs of his iconic career.

Caring for the Dying: The Doula Approach by Henry Fersko-WeissFersko-Weiss explores how the dying and their families can bring deep meaning and great comfort to the care given at the end of a life by helping the dying to find meaning in their life, expressing that meaning in powerful and beautiful legacies, and planning for the final days.

Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
When humanity discovers the existence of an extra-dimensional field capable of transporting travelers to different worlds instantly, a significantly depopulated Earth is threatened by a subsequent finding that the field is unstable and may be cutting travelers off on the wrong side of Earth-friendly worlds.

Cop Under Fire by David Clarke
Media-favorite Milwaukee County Sheriff Clarke navigates the choppy waters of race, religion, politics, and patriotism and share how we once again can become a great nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
The internationally best-selling author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist presents the story of two young lovers whose furtive affair is shaped by local unrest on the eve of a civil war that erupts in a cataclysmic bombing attack, forcing them to abandon their previous home and lives.

The First Love Story: Adam, Eve, and Us by Bruce Feiler
The PBS host and best-selling author of Walking the Bible and Abraham presents a revelatory account of Adam and Eve’s symbolism as central figures in Western imagination and their role in shaping humanity’s deepest feelings about relationships, family and togetherness.

The Idiot by Elif Batuman
Embarking on her freshman year at Harvard in the early tech days of the 1990s, a young artist and daughter of Turkish immigrants begins a correspondence with an older mathematics student from Hungary while struggling with her changing sense of self, first love and a daunting career prospect.

If Not for You by Debbie Macomber
Moving away from her oppressive parents in hopes of taking charge of her own life, Beth takes a job as a school music teacher and initially resists her attraction to a tattooed mechanic who is the epitome of everything her conservative parents fear.

The Little Things: Why You Really Should Sweat the Small Stuff by Andy Andrews
Andrews provides common-sense perspective and a game plan for meeting various challenges, such as: managing life in a society that seems to be constantly offended by something or someone; creating change that is permanent and not short term; dramatically increasing results by harnessing the fraction of margin between second place and first; understanding our spiritual connection with God and how that affects planning and outcome; identifying the very moment when asking the question why? multiplies the success of an endeavor; recognizing the smallest details that ensure the greatest success.

Man Overboard by J. A. Jance
When a brilliant software engineer falls to his death from a stateroom suite balcony, the police are unable to collect needed information from the victim’s tough maiden aunt and enlist the help of Ali Reynolds to discover that really happened.

Mangrove Lightning by Randy Wayne White
Approached by a legendary charter captain who believes his family has been cursed for their role in a multiple murder in 1925, a skeptical Doc Ford follows trails of attacks on the family from Key Largo to Tallahassee, only to suffer a series of near-fatal mishaps himself.

A Million Little Things by Susan Mallery
Feeling alone after breaking up with a longtime boyfriend, Zoe Saldivar’s life gets complicated when her father begins flirting with her best friend’s mom and she starts seeing Jen’s brother in a new way.

Murder on the Serpentine by Anne Perry
Privately summoned by Queen Victoria when one of her closest confidantes is found murdered, Thomas Pitt navigates the secretive world of London society in what becomes the most dangerous case of his career.

No One Cares About the Crazy People: The Chaos and Heartbreak of Mental Healthcare in America
by Ron Powers
New York Times bestselling author Ron Powers offers a carefully researched narrative of the social history of mental illness in the United States, focusing specifically on schizophrenia, the taboos that compromise mental health care, and the way the disease has devastated the author’s own family.

The Orphan’s Tale by Pam Jenoff
Sixteen-year-old Noa, forced to give up her baby fathered by a Nazi soldier, snatches a child from a boxcar containing Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp and takes refuge with a traveling circus, where Astrid, a Jewish aerialist, becomes her mentor.

Pekoe Most Poison by Laura Childs
Invited by one of Charleston’s most prominent hostesses to a philanthropic “Rat Tea” where guests are served by attendants in rodent costumes, Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia Browning lands in the middle of a dangerous game of cat and mouse when the hostess’ husband is poisoned.

River of Kings by Taylor Brown
Interweaves the adventures of two brothers traveling on Georgia’s Altamaha River to scatter their enigmatic father’s ashes with the story of Jacques Le Moyne, an artist who participated in a 1564 expedition to found a French settlement at the mouth of the river.

A Simple Favor by Darcy Bell
A single mother’s life is turned upside down when her best friend vanishes, an inexplicable event that prompts her to reach out to her blog readers and the missing woman’s handsome husband before nightmarish realities come to light.

Stealing Fire by Steven Kotler
An award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author examines how large tech companies and elite organizations are using altered states to unlock creativity and tap into higher levels of inspiration and innovation.

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
See explores the lives of a Chinese mother and her daughter, who has been adopted by an American couple, tracing the very different cultural factors that compel them to consume a rare native tea that has shaped their family’s destiny for generations.

Vicious Circle by C. J. Box
Rescuing his daughters from the violent Cates family, game warden Joe Pickett realizes that his new adversaries have plotted revenge against his entire family before teaming up with his friend, Nate, to take defensive steps.

The Widow’s House by Carol Goodman
Moving to a Hudson River valley community to revitalize their marriage and literary ambitions, Jess and Clare confront a dark pall that hangs over the crumbling estate where they work as caretakers before Clare begins to have hallucinations about the house’s anguished past.