Enjoy the New Year!

 

New Year's Hours

 

THE LIBRARY'S CHRISTMAS HOURS

 

New Adult Christmas Fiction

 

A Cup of Holiday Fear is a Bakeshop Mystery by Ellie Alexander. It’s Christmastime in Ashland, Oregon and the halls are decked, stockings hung, and eyes are all aglow—thanks to a bit of buttered rum. Jules Capshaw and her staff at Torte bakery are busy, busy, busy. Even the town’s most in-demand baker needs a break, though, so Jules invites everyone to celebrate at the Winchester Inn’s Dickens Feast—a six course spectacular complete with Yorkshire Pudding, Christmas goose, and all the trimmings. The weather outside turns frightful and one of the guests turns up deader than a doornail. Jules and her helpers take it upon themselves to search for clues and track down suspects. Who’s naughty? Who’s nice? And who’s a murderer? 

A Merry Murder is a new Pennyfoot Holiday Mystery by Kate Kingsbury. The Pennyfoot halls are all decked out for a spectacular Christmas celebration. There are actual boughs of holly, a magnificent decorated tree in the lobby, and the hotel’s guest list is finally looking healthy. The Pennyfoot’s owner, Cecily Sinclair Baxter is loving the holiday spirit until a tragedy strikes and threatens to ruin another Yuletide. Her chief housemaid Gertie has found a man’s body in the laundry room. He has a woman’s scarf wrapped around his neck and a note in his pocket from the hotel’s newest maid. Cecily gets to work tracking down the culprit, but she is thwarted at every turn with suspects lying about crucial clues. This is one slippery murderer and Cecily is on a timetable. She refuses to let another tragedy ruin the holiday festivities and Pennyfoot’s reputation. 

Christmas in Vermont is a novel by Anita Hughes. Emma can’t believe her luck when she finds an open jewelry store in Manhattan two days before Christmas. She is there to sell a bracelet her ex-boyfriend gave her when a familiar watch catches her eye. It’s the same engraved watch she gave her college sweetheart, Fletcher, years ago. She decides to trade the bracelet for the watch and the synchronicity of it all crosses her mind. Emma shrugs it off as a coincidence, but her best friend, Bronwyn, believes it is divine destiny. Fletcher is the one who got away and Emma never really got over it. Bronwyn does some digging and finds out that Fletcher is spending Christmas in a romantic inn in snowy Vermont, she gives destiny a push and signs Emma up to help the innkeeper as the children’s activity coordinator. Emma can’t help but feel that a week with quaint shops and maple syrup might do her some good. That is until she sees Fletcher with his daughter and his fiancée. Suddenly, Emma’s idea of a fairy tale seems doomed to fail—much like the innkeeper’s cashflow. It’s going to take a Christmas miracle to save Emma’s heart and the inn. 

New Editions of The Boxcar Children

 The library has recently bought new editions of The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner. The following titles are newly available.

The Boxcar Children (#1)

Surprise Island (#2)

Mystery Ranch (#4)

Mike's Mystery (#5)

Blue Bay Mystery (#6)

Snowbound Mystery (#13)

The Haunted Cabin Mystery (#20)

The Pizza Mystery (#33)

The Castle Mystery (#36)

Happy Thanksgiving!

More (Digital) Cookbooks to Tease Your Palate

These featured cookbooks are available on our hoopla digital app. Enjoy flipping through these recipes and not messing up your book while trying a few of them out for your family!

The New Homemade Kitchen: 250 Recipes and Ideas for Reinventing the Art of Preserving, Canning, Fermenting, Dehydrating, and More is by Joseph Shuldiner. Revive the lost arts of fermenting, canning, preserving, and creating your own ingredients. The Institute of Domestic Technology Cookbook is a collection of 250 recipes, ideas, and methods for stocking a kitchen, do-it-yourself food-crafting projects, and cooking with homemade ingredients. The chapters include instructions on how to make your own food products and pantry staples, as well as recipes highlighting those very ingredients-for example, make your own feta and bake it into a Greek phyllo pie, or learn how to dehydrate leftover produce and use it in homemade instant soup mixes. Each chapter includes instructions to make your own pantry staples, like ground mustard, sourdough starter, and miso paste. Complete with recipes that utilize the very ingredients you made. Filled with informative and helpful features like flavor variation charts, extended tutorials, faculty advice, and instructional line drawings. Also included are features like food-crafting charts, historical tidbits, 100+ photos and illustrations, how-to's, and sidebars featuring experts and deans from the Institute, including LA-based cheese-makers, coffee roasters, butchers, and more. From the Institute of Domestic Technology, a revered food-crafting school in Los Angeles, each chapter is based on the school's curriculum and covers all manners of techniques-such as curing, bread-baking, cheese-making, coffee-roasting, butchering, and more. Complete with beautiful food photography, this well-researched and comprehensive cookbook will inspire chefs of all levels. Great gift for food-crafters, food geeks, food pioneers, farmers' market shoppers, as well as people who feel nostalgic for a slower way of life.

American drummer, DJ, producer, designer, culinary entrepreneur, music educator, and bestselling author Questlove brings you Mixtape potluck: a cookbook. What if Questlove threw a potluck dinner, and everybody came? He picked the guests. The guests picked the recipes. The result is the ultimate potluck cookbook. Questlove is best known for his achievements in the music world, but his interest in food runs a close second. He has hosted a series of renowned Food Salons and conversations with some of America's most prominent chefs. Now he is turning his hand to creating a cookbook. In Mixtape Potluck Cookbook, Questlove imagines the ultimate potluck dinner party, inviting more than fifty chefs, entertainers, and musicians-such as Eric Ripert, Natalie Portman, and Q-Tip-and asking them to bring along their favorite recipes. He also pairs each cook with a song that he feels best captures their unique creative energy. The result is not only an accessible, entertaining cookbook, but also a collection of Questlove's diverting musical commentaries as well as an illustration of the fascinating creative relationship between music and food. With Questlove's unique style of hosting dinner parties and his love of music, food, and entertaining, this book will give readers unexpected insights into the relationship between culture and food.

Half the Sugar, All the Love: a family cookbook features 100 easy, low-sugar recipes for every meal of the day is by Jennifer Tyler Lee and Anisha I. Patel, MD, MSPH. Would you feed your child a candy bar for breakfast? Of course not. And yet today our children routinely consume three times the recommended daily allowance of added sugar, which puts them at an unprecedented risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, excess weight, and even nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. These doctor-approved recipes that cut the sugar (by half—or more!) without sacrificing the flavors our families love. It’s an eye-opening education, a program of healthy eating, and a cookbook chock-full of easy, delicious recipes all in one. Pass the breakfast bars!

Let's Fix Lunch! by Kat Nouri makes it easy (and fun!) to prepare meals that are good for you and good for the planet. This eco-friendly cookbook features delicious, waste-free recipes for sandwiches, salads, soups, snacks, and more. An inspiring guide for anyone who wants to do their small part to save the earth, Let's Fix Lunch! makes it simple to create a sustainable, waste-free home. - Easy-to-make recipes for all home cooks - Includes more than 50 simple tips for reducing food waste and plastic use - Features a handy guide to buying in bulk, meal prepping, and food storage This eco-conscious cookbook is written by Kat Nouri, founder of the beloved, environmentally friendly kitchen brand Stasher. Let's Fix Lunch! is the perfect kitchen companion for eco-conscious parents and office workers. - Brims with bright, vivid photographs of tasty dishes and beautifully packed lunches - Perfect for anyone who tries to live a waste-free, low plastic, and environmentally friendly lifestyle - Packed with inspired, accessible meal-prep ideas and techniques.

Veteran's Day

In honor of those who have served our country, this week we feature some recent non-fiction dedicated to our Veterans. Thank You For Your Service.

"Omaha Beach legend Ray Lambert's unforgettable firsthand account of D-Day—read the astonishing true story celebrated by Tom Brokaw, CBS This Morning, NPR, and the President. Winner of the Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award. Seventy-five years ago, he hit Omaha Beach with the first wave. Now Ray Lambert, ninety-eight years old, delivers one of the most remarkable memoirs of our time, a tour-de-force of remembrance evoking his role as a decorated World War II medic who risked his life to save the heroes of D-Day. At five a.m. on June 6, 1944, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ray Lambert worked his way through a throng of nervous soldiers to a wind-swept deck on a troopship off the coast of Normandy, France. A familiar voice cut through the wind and rumble of the ship’s engines. “Ray!” called his brother, Bill. Ray, head of a medical team for the First Division’s famed 16th Infantry Regiment, had already won a silver star in 1943 for running through German lines to rescue trapped men, one of countless rescues he’d made in North Africa and Sicily.

“This is going to be the worst yet,” Ray told his brother, who served alongside him throughout the war.

“If I don’t make it,” said Bill, “take care of my family.”

“I will,” said Ray. He thought about his wife and son–a boy he had yet to see. “Same for me.” The words were barely out of Ray’s mouth when a shout came from below.

To the landing craft!

The brothers parted. Their destinies lay ten miles away, on the bloodiest shore of Normandy, a plot of Omaha Beach ironically code named “Easy Red.” Less than five hours later, after saving dozens of lives and being wounded at least three separate times, Ray would lose consciousness in the shallow water of the beach under heavy fire. He would wake on the deck of a landing ship to find his battered brother clinging to life next to him. Every Man a Hero is the unforgettable story not only of what happened in the incredible and desperate hours on Omaha Beach, but of the bravery and courage that preceded them, throughout the Second World War—from the sands of Africa, through the treacherous mountain passes of Sicily, and beyond to the greatest military victory the world has ever known." (from Amazon.com)

"Many Americans believe service in the military to be a quintessential way to demonstrate patriotism. We expect those who serve to be treated with respect and dignity. However, as in so many aspects of our politics, the reality and our ideals diverge widely in our treatment of veterans. There is perhaps no starker example of this than the continued practice of deporting men and women who have served. J. Malcolm Garcia has travelled across the country and abroad to interview veterans who have been deported, as well as the families and friends they have left behind, giving the full scope of the tragedy to be found in this all too common practice. Without a Country analyzes the political climate that has led us here and takes a hard look at the toll deportation has taken on American vets and their communities. Deported veterans share in and reflect the diversity of America itself. The numerous compounding injustices meted out to them reflect many of the still unresolved contradictions of our nation and its ideals. But this story, in all its grit and complexity, really boils down to an old, simple question: Who is a real American?" (from Amazon.com)

"A publication dedicated to U.S. Veterans of the Korean War and their families, thanking them for their service. A limited edition commemorative book with a dedication to all Korean War Veterans provided by Park Geun-hye, President of the Republic of Korea. Filled with historic images, black and white, and numerous contributions. Contents include the following sections: The Attack, Fighting Back, Waiting for a Resolution, A New Beginning, The Strength of a New Alliance, and The Republic of Korea Thanks You (Epilogue). The volume celebrates 60 years of commitment and 60 years of friendship. "Korea Reborn: A Grateful Nation Honors War Veterans for 60 Years of Growth" is a retrospective look at the Korean War and the years of prosperity that followed. The photos and text tell the story from the perspective of both U.S. Veterans who served in the conflict, and the Koreans who prospered from the freedom left in their wake. Beginning with the events that led up to the war, through the ensuing battlefields across the Korean Peninsula, and ultimately the transformation from a war-torn country into a vibrant, prosperous nation, this book encapsulates why freedom is worth fighting for. To this day, the people of the Republic of Korea honor those brave veterans who served and sacrificed on their behalf. A reborn Korean is one that has risen from the rubble of war to be an economic world leader and a prized example of how freedom works. This is a story of a war remembered." (from Amazon.com)

"A decade ago, special forces warrior Jason Morgan parachuted into the Central American jungle on an antinarcotics raid. He’d served with the famous Night Stalkers on countless such missions. This one was different. Months later, he regained consciousness in a U.S. military hospital with no memory of how he’d gotten there. The first words he heard were from his surgeon telling him he would never walk again. The determined soldier responded, “Sir, yes, I will.” After multiple surgeries, unbearable chronic pain, and numerous setbacks, Morgan was finally making progress when his wife left him and their three young sons. He was a single father confined to a wheelchair and tortured by his pain. At this very dark, very low point, Morgan found light: Napal, the black Labrador who would change his life forever. A Dog Called Hope is the incredible story of a service dog who brought a devastated warrior back from the brink and taught him how to be a true father. It is the story of Napal, who built bridges between his wheelchair-bound battle buddy and the rest of able-bodied humankind. It is the story of Jason, who found life’s true meaning with the help of his faithful companion. Humorous, intensely moving, and uplifting, Jason and Napal’s heartwarming tale will brighten any day and lift every heart." (from Amazon.com)

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

"Mark Bittman is revered for his simple, straightforward, and flexible approach to everyday cooking. In Dinner for Everyone, he shares 100 essential main dishes, each with easy, vegan, and all-out recipes as the mood or occasion requires. These 300 all-new recipes, accompanied by more than 100 full-color photographs, form a diverse collection that includes quick meals for busy weeknights (hearty soups, tacos, and one-pot pastas), creative plant-based fare that will please both vegans and non-vegans alike (lemon polenta with mushroom ragu, pomegranate-glazed eggplant, or cauliflower tinga tacos), and impressive dishes perfect for entertaining (handmade noodles and even your Thanksgiving centerpiece). Whatever the experience level, craving, or time constraint, home cooks will find exactly what they need to prepare all their favorites with confidence and enthusiasm. Rooted in Mark's philosophy of using efficient cooking techniques, fresh ingredients, and basic equipment--and written in his signature to-the-point style--Dinner for Everyone is a one-stop, indispensable reference for life's ultimate question: What's for dinner?" (from Amazon.com)

“Families crave rituals,” says Jenny Rosenstrach, and by rituals she means not just the big celebrations—Valentine’s Day dinners, Mother’s Day brunches, Halloween send-offs, Thanksgiving feasts, holiday cocktail parties—but the little ones we may not even realize are rituals: a platter of deluxe nachos on Super Bowl Sunday, or a bowl of creamy mashed potatoes after every braces-tightening session. Whether simple or elaborate, daily or annual, these rituals all serve the same purpose for Rosenstrach: to bring comfort, connection, and meaning to every day.  

100+ recipes, including:

• popovers, apple fritters, and golden pancakes, perfect for sleepover mornings or birthday breakfasts
• “Interfaith Sliders”: one version with ham and another with brisket
• Rosenstrach’s legendary chocolate Mud Cake—plus an entire section on birthdays, including a one-size-fits-all party planner that does not rely on pizza
• complete menus for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve
• and, of course, dozens of Rosenstrach’s signature family dinners: Grilled Soy-Glazed Pork Chops, Harissa Roasted Chicken, Crispy Chickpeas with Yogurt Sauce and Naan, Grilled Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Avocado Butter and Summer Cabbage, and more

In this digital, overscheduled age, How to Celebrate Everything helps families slow down, capture the moments that matter—and eat well while doing it." (from Amazon.com)

"Ree Drummond―accidental country girl, award-winning blogger, Food Network personality, and #1 New York Times bestselling author―presents The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays, a fantastic collection of recipes, photos, and homespun humor to help you celebrate all through the year. Ree shows you how to ring in your favorite holidays with inspired menus for breakfasts, brunches, lunches, dinners, parties, deliveries, and feasts, accompanied by fun instructions and hundreds of her signature step-by-step photos. Filled with creative and flavorful ideas for intimate dinners, group gatherings, and family meals, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays includes dozens of mouthwatering dishes (with nineteen recipes for Thanksgiving alone!), helping home cooks create a variety of delights. Whip up a Resolution Smoothie on New Year’s Day; Whiskey BBQ Sliders and Dr Pepper Cupcakes for The Big Game; Glazed Ham for Easter; Watermelon Sangria for a sizzling Fourth of July cookout; and perfect Popcorn Balls on Halloween. For Christmas, Ree includes special homemade treats, including Caramel Apple Rolls, Christmas Rum Cake, and a selection of smile-inducing cookies, perfect for Christmas deliveries to family and friends. Enjoy holidays all year ’round...Pioneer Woman style!" (from Amazon.com)

"Beloved Food Network personality, restaurateur, and author Paula Deen loves a party, and in her latest book, Paula Deen Celebrates!, Paula shares with fans old and new how she celebrates a year's worth of holidays and special occasions. Now anyone can share in the down-home celebrations Paula, her husband, Michael, their kids, and extended family enjoy at their beautiful home in Savannah, Georgia. What better way to start off the New Year than with a New Year's Eve Brunch with friends—at midnight! This colorful celebration includes Crab and Spinach Casserole and Baked Tomatoes, and finishes with a quintessentially southern Hummingbird Cake and Irish Coffee. Welcome St. Patrick's Day, Savannah style, with Lamb Stew and Green Grits Pie. The centerpiece of an Easter dinner is a Peanut Butter-Glazed Ham, accompanied by Spinach-Swiss Casserole, Squash Boats, and flaky Butterhorns, with a bonus recipe for Ham Salad that makes eating leftovers a treat. Looking for a reason to party, south-of-the-border style? Try Paula's Cinco de Mayo Fiesta menu, with Macho Nachos and a cool and creamy Margarita Mousse. Paula honors the memory of her mother, and all the other women who have blessed her life, with a Mother's Day Tea of dainty sandwiches and irresistible cookies served on her best china, and fathers get their due with a Father's Day Boating Picnic. The Fourth of July is the perfect occasion for an Outdoor Grill Party and Low-Country Boil, and if what you want is a quiet evening at home, pop a movie in the DVD player and chow down on your choice of Paula's savory and sweet pizzas. Gather the family to watch some football and savor Jamie's Cheeseburger Pies, and give family and friends the gift of a sweet treat at the holidays with Paula's Icebox Fruitcake or Peppermint Bark. Her Christmas feast starts with Cranberry Holiday Brie and stars an impressive Standing Rib Roast, with Twice-Baked Potato Casserole. The show-stopping dessert is Paula's butter-laden Coconut Pound Cake glazed with coconut syrup and covered with icing and toasted coconut!" (from Amazon.com)

Masters of Horror

 With Halloween just a few days away, I wanted to highlight some of the Masters of Horror Writing that we have here at the library. These are authors that everyone should know.

 

"The name Edgar Allan Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry. Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name. The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business." (from Goodreads.com)

"Howard Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction. Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality." (from Goodreads.com)

"Stephen King attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums. He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines. Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies. In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels." (from Goodreads.com)

"Dean Koontz is acknowledged as "America's most popular suspense novelist" (Rolling Stone) and as one of today's most celebrated and successful writers, Dean Ray Koontz has earned the devotion of millions of readers around the world and the praise of critics everywhere for tales of character, mystery, and adventure that strike to the core of what it means to be human. Dean, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirit of their goldens, Trixie and Anna." (from Goodreads.com)

Creepy Nonfiction

 

"Author, investigator, and creature expert Linda S. Godfrey brings fearless reporting to American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America, using historical records, present-day news reports, and eyewitness interviews to examine this hidden menagerie of America's homegrown beasts. Bigfoot, the chupacabra, and thunderbirds aren't just figments of our overactive imaginations - according to thousands of eyewitnesses, they exist, in every corner of the United States. Throughout America's history, shocked onlookers have seen unbelievable creatures of every stripe - from sea serpents to apelike beings, giant bats to monkeymen - in every region." (from Amazon.com)

"In this remarkable true story, the haunting of a Long Island household forces a respected writer and editor to reevaluate the mysteries of life and death as he struggles with the frightening truths of his childhood home and his town's past. Growing up in Rockville Center, Long Island, Gary Jansen never believed in ghosts. His mother-a devoutly Catholic woman with a keen sense for the uncanny-claimed that their family house was haunted. But Jansen never found anything inexplicable in how their doorbell would sometimes ring of its own accord; or in the mysterious sounds of footsteps or breaking glass that occasionally would fill their home; or even in his mother's sometimes unsettlingly accurate visions of future events and tragedies. Though he once experienced a supernatural encounter in a Prague church as a young man, Jansen grew up into a rationalist, as well as a noted writer and editor. Decades later, in 2001, Jansen moved back into the very same house where he had once grown up to raise a family with his wife. This became the first step in uncovering a frightening, full-blown haunting in his home-a phenomenon that lasted an entire year and eventually included unveiling the identities of the spirits who occupied his house; discovering the chilling story of a century-old murder in his hometown; encountering mind-boggling coincidences between local history and events in his own family; and finally engaging in a climactic exorcism with the help of Mary Ann Winkowski, the real-life inspiration for TV's The Ghost Whisperer. The events of that year-in which Jansen's family was terrified of and terrorized by ghosts in their own home-forever changed how he viewed the mysteries of life and death. Holy Ghosts is not only a gripping true-life ghost story but a funny and touching memoir, as well as a meditation on the relationship between religion and the paranormal, which are often considered at odds with each other but which the author shows are intimately linked." (from Amazon.com)

Monster Hunters: On the Trail with Ghost Hunters, Bigfooters, Ufologists, and Other Paranormal Investigators is by Tea Krulos. "Do ghosts exist? What about the Bigfoot, or Skinwalkers? And how will we ever know? Journalist Tea Krulos spent over a year traveling nationwide to meet individuals who have made it their life’s passion to hunt down evidence of entities that they believe exist, but that others might shrug off as nothing more than myths, fairytales, or overactive imaginations. Follow along with Krulos as he joins these believers in the field, exploring haunted houses, trekking through creepy forests, and scanning skies and lakes as they collect data on the unknown—poltergeists, Chupacabras, Skunk Apes (Bigfoot’s stinky cousins), and West Virginia’s Mothman. Along the way, he meets a diverse cast of characters—true believers, skeptics, and hoaxers—from the credible to the quirky. And in the end, Krulos leaves it to the reader to decide: are these people tilting at supernatural windmills, or are they onto something?" (from Amazon.com)

Christopher D. Bader, F. Carson Mencken, and Joseph O. Baker present: Paranormal America: Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings, Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities in Religion and Culture. "A significant number of Americans spend their weekends at UFO conventions hearing whispers of government cover-ups, at New Age gatherings learning the keys to enlightenment, or ambling around historical downtowns learning about resident ghosts in tourist-targeted 'ghost walks' They have been fed a steady diet of fictional shows with paranormal themes such as The X-Files, Supernatural, and Medium, shows that may seek to simply entertain, but also serve to disseminate paranormal beliefs. The public hunger for the paranormal seems insatiable. Paranormal America provides the definitive portrait of Americans who believe in or have experienced such phenomena as ghosts, Bigfoot, UFOs, psychic phenomena, astrology, and the power of mediums. However, unlike many books on the paranormal, this volume does not focus on proving or disproving the paranormal, but rather on understanding the people who believe and how those beliefs shape their lives. Drawing on the Baylor Religion Survey a multi-year national random sample of American religious values, practices, and behaviors as well as extensive fieldwork including joining hunts for Bigfoot and spending the night in a haunted house, authors Christopher Bader, F. Carson Mencken, and Joseph Baker shed light on what the various types of paranormal experiences, beliefs, and activities claimed by Americans are; whether holding an unconventional belief, such as believing in Bigfoot, means that one is unconventional in other attitudes and behaviors; who has such experiences and beliefs and how they differ from other Americans; and if we can expect major religions to emerge from the paranormal. Brimming with engaging personal stories and provocative findings, Paranormal America is an entertaining yet authoritative look at a growing segment of American religious culture." (from Amazon.com)

New Thrillers

 The newest book from author Kiki Swinson is titled The Deadline. Kloe Mercer is an off-air journalist who covers the tough Norfolk, Virginia neighborhood where she grew up. She desperately wants the coveted anchor desk slot, but her hostile boss and the cut-throat competition means she will need to break a major exclusive. Kloe finds herself with easy access to the dirty truth to a murder on her home turf, but she’ll have to weigh her career against the safety of those she holds dear. When the ruthless cabal behind the murder put Kloe in their sights, they take that choice from her and begin to tie up loose ends. Nowhere is safe and her ambition has become her liability.

The newest Pendergast novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is called Crooked River. The residents of the quiet resort town of Sanibel Island, Florida are horrified when dozens of identical, ordinary-looking shoes wash up on the beach—each one with a crudely severed human foot inside. Agent Pendergast reluctantly agrees to cut his vacation short to visit the crime scene, but quickly becomes pulled in by this incomprehensible puzzle. The early pathology report only adds to the mystery. No one knows what happened, why, or from where the feet originated. And everyone desperately wants to know: are the victims still alive? Pendergast finds himself facing a tangled web of evidence that spans and ocean and crosses continents. The powerful adversary he uncovers has decided that Pendergast is the ideal subject for the sadistic research they are conducting.

Ted Bell delivers his latest Alex Hawke novel with Dragon Fire. The dashing rake and heir to the British throne has gone missing in the Bahamas. The Queen knows that there is only one man for the job—Lord Alexander Hawke the dashing British gentleman and MI6 legend. Hawke is recovering from horrific injuries he suffered on his last mission when he receives the Queen’s desperate call. All she knows is that the young prince was last seen on an ultra-exclusive resort the Dragonfire Club which is run by the notorious Tang brothers. These twin brothers are known to head-up the Tang Dynasty’s worldwide criminal enterprises. As time ticks by, Hawke must push through his own physical pain to unravel a shadowy conspiracy that may be centuries old.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright delivers his latest with The End of October. Forty-seven people in an Indonesian internment camp die of acute hemorrhagic fever and WHO epidemiologist Henry Parson’s investigation reveals staggering repercussions. At the same time, the deputy director of U.S. Homeland Security is scrambling to mount a response to the rapidly spreading pandemic jumping from country to country. She believes the disease is an act of biowarfare. Already tense global relations crumble as the virus cuts through the United States, dismantling institutions—scientific, religious, governmental—and decimating the population. Henry travels from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia and back to the CDC in Atlanta in search of a cure and for the origins for the mysterious disease. Meanwhile, a rogue experimenter in man-made diseases is preparing his own terrifying solution.

The Wife Who Knew Too Much is the new novel by Michele Campbell. Set among the glittering mansions of the Hamptons, this summer thriller tells the story of the two Mrs. Fords. The first is a beautiful, accomplished, and wealthy beyond imagination. She marries a much younger man and now she is dead. The second Mrs. Ford is a waitress and small-town girl who marries a man she never forgot from a summer romance ten years previous. Now, she is wealthy beyond belief. But who is Mr. Ford? Connor Ford has married two women who have known him as only wives can. Both loved him very much, but who is the victim? Who is the villain? What would you do for love and money?