New Adult Fiction for Your Enjoyment

The White Lady introduces yet another extraordinary heroine from Jacqueline Winspear, creator of the best-selling Maisie Dobbs series. This heart-stopping novel, set in Post WWII Britain in 1947, follows the coming of age and maturity of former wartime operative Elinor White—veteran of two wars, trained killer, protective of her anonymity—when she is drawn back into the world of menace she has been desperate to leave behind. A reluctant ex-spy with demons of her own, Elinor finds herself facing down one of the most dangerous organized crime gangs in London, ultimately exposing corruption from Scotland Yard to the highest levels of government. The private, quiet “Miss White" as Elinor is known, lives in a village in rural Kent, England, and to her fellow villagers seems something of an enigma. Well she might, as Elinor occupies a "grace and favor" property, a rare privilege offered to faithful servants of the Crown for services to the nation. But the residents of Shacklehurst have no way of knowing how dangerous Elinor's war work had been, or that their mysterious neighbor is haunted by her past. It will take Susie, the child of a young farmworker, Jim Mackie and his wife, Rose, to break through Miss White's icy demeanor—but Jim has something in common with Elinor. He, too, is desperate to escape his past. When the powerful Mackie crime family demands a return of their prodigal son for an important job, Elinor assumes the task of protecting her neighbors, especially the bright-eyed Susie. Yet in her quest to uncover the truth behind the family’s pursuit of Jim, Elinor unwittingly sets out on a treacherous path—yet it is one that leads to her freedom.

In a voice infused with sly humor, Sylvie Pelletier recounts leaving her family’s snowbound mountain cabin to work in a manor house for the Padgetts, owners of the marble-mining company that employs her father and dominates the town. Sharp-eyed Sylvie is awed by the luxury around her; fascinated by her employer, the charming “Countess” Inge, and confused by the erratic affections of Jasper, the bookish heir to the family fortune. Her fairy-tale ideas take a dark turn when she realizes the Padgetts’ lofty philosophical talk is at odds with the unfair labor practices that have enriched them. Their servants, the Gradys, formerly enslaved people, have long known this to be true and are making plans to form a utopian community on the Colorado prairie. Outside the manor walls, the town of Moonstone is roiling with discontent. A handsome union organizer, along with labor leader Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, is stirring up the quarry workers. The editor of the local newspaper—a bold woman who takes Sylvie on as an apprentice—is publishing unflattering accounts of the Padgett Company. Sylvie navigates vastly different worlds and struggles to find her way amid conflicting loyalties. When the harsh winter brings tragedy, Sylvie decides to act. Drawn from true stories of Colorado history, Gilded Mountain by Kate Manning is a tale of a bygone American West seized by robber barons and settled by immigrants, and is a story imbued with longing—for self-expression and equality, freedom and adventure.

Angels of the Resistance by Noelle Salazar is a story inspired by true events, about courageous women who risked everything for country, for family, and for each other. Netherlands, 1940. As bombs fall across Europe, fourteen-year-old Lien Vinke fears that the reality of war is inescapable. Though she lives a quiet life with her mother and older sister, Elif, in their small town of Haarlem, they are no strangers to heartache, having recently suffered an immeasurable loss. And when the Nazis invade the Netherlands, joining the Dutch resistance with Elif offers just the atonement Lien craves. Trained to shoot by their late father, the sisters are deadly wolves in sheep’s clothing. They soon find themselves entrenched in the underground movement, forging friendships with the other young recruits, and Lien even discovers a kindred spirit in a boy named Charlie. But in wartime, emotional attachments are a liability she can’t afford, especially when a deeply personal mission jeopardizes everything she holds dear—her friendships, her family, and her one shot at redemption.

The Call of the Wrens by Jenni L. Walsh introduces the little-known story of the daring women who rode through war-torn Europe carrying secrets on their shoulders. An orphan who spent her youth without a true home, Marion Hoxton found in the Great War something other than destruction. She discovered a chance to belong. As a member of the Women’s Royal Naval Service—the Wrens—Marion gained sisters. She found purpose in her work as a motorcycle dispatch rider assigned to train and deliver carrier pigeons to the front line. And despite the constant threat of danger, she and her childhood friend Eddie began to dream of a future together. Until the battle that changed everything. Now twenty years later, another war has broken out across Europe, calling Marion to return to the fight. Meanwhile others, like twenty-year-old society girl Evelyn Fairchild, hear the call for the first time. For Evelyn, serving in the war is a way to prove herself after a childhood fraught with surgeries and limitations from a disability. The re-formation of the Wrens as World War II rages is the perfect opportunity to make a difference in the world at seventy miles per hour. Told in alternating narratives that converge in a single life-changing moment, The Call of the Wrens is a vivid, emotional saga of love, secrets, and resilience—and the knowledge that the future will always belong to the brave souls who fight for it.

Some New Adult Nonfiction

 

A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its ideas once were—and still are. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn is that kind of book. When it was first published in 1962, it was a landmark event in the history and philosophy of science. Fifty years later, it still has many lessons to teach. With The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn challenged long-standing linear notions of scientific progress, arguing that transformative ideas don’t arise from the day-to-day, gradual process of experimentation and data accumulation but that the revolutions in science, those breakthrough moments that disrupt accepted thinking and offer unanticipated ideas, occur outside of “normal science,” as he called it. Though Kuhn was writing when physics ruled the sciences, his ideas on how scientific revolutions bring order to the anomalies that amass over time in research experiments are still instructive in our biotech age. This new edition of Kuhn’s essential work in the history of science includes an insightful introduction by Ian Hacking, which clarifies terms popularized by Kuhn, including paradigm and incommensurability, and applies Kuhn’s ideas to the science of today. Usefully keyed to the separate sections of the book, Hacking’s introduction provides important background information as well as a contemporary context.  Newly designed, with an expanded index, this edition will be eagerly welcomed by the next generation of readers seeking to understand the history of our perspectives on science.

A browsable, illustrated one-stop shop for reliable and updated information on the signs, symptoms, tests, treatment and prevention of most common health conditions. Allergies, breast cancer, hyperthyroidism, PTSD, shin splints – when you’ve got questions about health conditions, you want quick, clear answers. You’ll find them in the second edition of Mayo Clinic A to Z Health Guide, with information on identifying, treating and preventing a wide range of medical problems from experts at the top-ranked U.S. hospital. With topics ranging from hiccups to cancer, the full-color pages inside Mayo Clinic A to Z Health Guide feature medical illustrations that add clarity to complex medical concepts, and the user-friendly design helps you easily find what you’re looking for such as:

• Questions like, ‘What is it?’ and ‘What’s the cause?’
• The latest knowledge of risk factors
• Symptom checker, with comprehensive lists of common signs and symptoms
• What tests to expect, to help you approach any health care visit feeling prepared
• Treatment, including updated medication options
• Lifestyle tips for treatment and prevention in your daily life

For trustworthy health advice at your fingertips, Mayo Clinic A to Z Health Guide by Sanjeev Nanda is the go-to resource you’ll pull off your bookshelf time and time again.

You want your kitchen to be the heartbeat of the home, but you’re overwhelmed and out of breath trying to make it happen. Meals are on a never-ending loop, and you don’t have time to prepare dinner, much less enjoy it. Popular Lazy Genius expert and bestselling author Kendra Adachi is here to help! Packed with proven Lazy Genius principles, the book will teach you to: 

• name what matters to you in the kitchen—whether that’s flavor, convenience, or something else entirely 
• feed your people with efficiency and ease 
• apply a simple, actionable five-step process—prioritize, essentialize, organize, personalize, and systemize—to multiple areas of your kitchen, empowering you to enjoy your kitchen the way you’ve always wanted 

You don’t need magical recipes, fancy gadgets, or daunting lists to follow to the letter; you just need a framework that works whether you’re cooking for one or for twenty. Straightforward, strategic, soulful, and a little sassy, The Lazy Genius Kitchen will turn your hardest-working room into your favorite one, too.

April is National Gardening Month!

For every gardener who cares about the planet, this guide to designing a bee garden helps you create a stunningly colorful, vibrant, healthy habitat that attracts both honeybees and native bees. In The Bee-Friendly Garden, award-winning garden designer Kate Frey and bee expert Gretchen LeBuhn provide everything you need to know to create a dazzling garden that helps both the threatened honeybee and our own native bees. No matter how small or large your space, and regardless of whether you live in the city, suburbs, or country, just a few simple changes to your garden can fight the effects of colony collapse disorder and the worldwide decline in bee population that threatens our global food chain. There are many personal benefits of having a bee garden as well! Bee gardens:

• · contain a gorgeous variety of flowers
• · bloom continuously throughout the seasons
• · are organic, pesticide-free, and ecologically sustainable
• · develop healthy and fertile soil
• · attract birds, butterflies, and other beneficial insects
• · increase the quantity of your fruit and vegetable harvest
• · improve the quality, flavor, and size of your produce

Illustrated with spectacular full-color photos, The Bee-Friendly Garden debunks myths about bees, explains seasonal flower progression, and provides detailed instructions for nest boxes and water features. From “super blooming” flowers to regional plant lists and plants to avoid, The Bee-Friendly Garden is an essential tool for every gardener who cares about the planet and wants to make their yard a welcoming habitat for nature’s most productive pollinator. (from Amazon.com)

“Jessica Walliser lets readers in on the secrets to a garden that buzzes with activity. Her profiles, on the insects that fight pests and the best plants for attracting them, offer clear, practical tips.” —Martha Stewart Living. A healthy population of beneficial insects can eliminate the need for dangerous pesticides. Say goodbye to common pests like spider mites, aphids, and leafhoppers just by planting a beautiful garden full of the right flowers and herbs! At first it might seem counter intuitive to want bugs in your landscape, but insects are good for your garden—especially the helpful ones that eat the pests feeding on your favorite plants.  Say goodbye to common pests like spider mites, aphids, and leafhoppers just by planting a beautiful garden full of the right flowers and herbs! In Attracting Beneficial Bugs, organic gardening expert Jessica Walliser provides an accessible guide to selecting, placing, and caring for plants that will invite beneficial insects into your garden to do the dirty work of pest control for you. You’ll learn which plants lure in pest-eating predators and how to design a beautiful garden that provides for these beneficial bugs throughout the year. (from Amazon.com)

Nothing tastes better than herbs harvested fresh from the garden! Grow Your Own Herbs shares everything you need to know to grow the forty most important culinary herbs. You’ll learn basic gardening information, including details on soil, watering, and potting. Profiles of 40 herbs—including popular varieties like basil, bay laurel, lemon verbena, tarragon, savory, thyme, and more—feature tasting notes, cultivation information, and harvesting tips. Additional information includes instructions for preserving and storing, along with techniques for making delicious pastes, syrups, vinegar, and butters. If you are new to gardening, have a limited space, or are looking to add fresh herbs to their daily meals, Grow Your Own Herbs by Susan Belsinger is a must-have. (from Amazon.com)

Companion planting has a long history of use by gardeners, but the explanation of why it works has been filled with folklore and conjecture. Plant Partners by Jessica Walliser delivers a research-based rationale for this ever-popular growing technique, offering dozens of ways you can use scientifically tested plant partnerships to benefit your whole garden. Through an enhanced understanding of how plants interact with and influence each other, this guide suggests specific plant combinations that improve soil health and weed control, decrease pest damage, and increase biodiversity, resulting in real and measurable impacts in the garden. Intentionally growing certain plants together to benefit the whole garden now has science to explain its success. Jessica Walliser’s new vision of an old tradition is built around a modern understanding of the marvelous web of connections happening in the garden and how to use them to create real and measurable results. Discover dozens of well-studied partnerships that offer fresh strategies to:

• - Break up heavy soils
• - Combat weeds and disease
• - Lure pests away
• - Attract specific beneficial insects
• - Improve pollination

Raised bed gardening is the fastest-growing garden strategy today, and Raised Bed Revolution by Tara Nolan is the definitive guidebook to mastering this consistently proven and effective gardening method. Raised Bed Revolution provides you with information on size requirements for constructing raised beds, height suggestions, types of materials you can use, and creative tips for fitting the maximum garden capacity into small spaces—including vertical gardening. Enhanced with gorgeous photography, this book covers subjects such as growing-medium options, rooftop gardening, cost-effective gardening solutions, planting tips, watering strategies (automatic water drip systems and hand watering), and more. The process of creating and building raised beds is a cinch, too, thanks to the extensive gallery of design ideas and step-by-step projects. This gardening strategy is taking serious root. Why? Several reasons:

• Raised beds allow gardeners to practice space efficiency as well as accessibility (the beds can be customized to be any height).
• Raised beds permit gardeners to use their own soil, and they can be designed with wheels for easy portability if partial sunlight is a problem.
• Water conservation is easier for gardeners who use raised beds.
• Pest control is assisted because most garden pests can’t make the leap up into the raised bed. For yards that struggle with drainage, raised bed gardening offers a no-brainer solution. Raised beds simply create a more interesting yard!

Find out more about why everyone is joining the raised bed revolution, roll up your sleeves and join in! (from Amazon.com)

New Fiction to Fit Your Fancy

Stateless is a novel by Elizabeth Wein. A murder mystery set in 1937 Europe with intrigue, glamour, secrets, and betrayal. When Stella North is chosen to represent Britain in Europe’s first air race for young people, she knows all too well how high the stakes are. As the only participating female pilot, it’ll be a constant challenge to prove she’s a worthy competitor. But promoting peace in Europe feels empty to Stella when civil war is raging in Spain and the Nazis are gaining power—and when, right from the start, someone resorts to cutthroat sabotage to get ahead of the competition. The world is looking for inspiration in what’s meant to be a friendly sporting event. But each of the racers is hiding a turbulent and violent past, and any one of them might be capable of murder…including Stella herself. (from Goodreads.com)

Jesse Q. Sutanto brings readers a new cozy mystery titled Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. Put the kettle on, there’s a mystery brewing…Tea-shop owner. Matchmaker. Detective?Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet). But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer. Nobody spills the tea like this amateur sleuth. (from Goodreads.com)

The latest from Kirsten Weiss is called Going, Going, Dead. At an auction, competition can be deadly...When Maddie attends an estate auction of artifacts from America’s spiritualist era, it’s just another day in the life of a paranormal museum owner…. Until she discovers the body of the murdered auctioneer. Her mother is convinced the murderer is after a mysterious statuette that once belonged to the town’s Ladies Aid Society. With the holidays approaching, Maddie and friends dive into the mad world of obsessive collectors to find the missing statuette… and a killer. Maddie tracks her suspects through a secluded gothic estate, in the wineries of Central California, and along the streets of small-town San Benedetto. But this clever criminal is determined to win at all costs. Will the killer use Maddie’s friends as the ultimate weapon against her?

The House at the End of the World is the latest from bestselling suspense author Dean Koontz. In retreat from a devastating loss and crushing injustice, Katie lives alone in a fortress-like stone house on Jacob’s Ladder island. Once a rising star in the art world, she finds refuge in her painting. The neighboring island of Ringrock houses a secret: a government research facility. And now two agents have arrived on Jacob’s Ladder in search of someone—or something—they refuse to identify. Although an air of menace hangs over these men, an infinitely greater threat has arrived, one so strange even the island animals are in a state of high alarm. Katie soon finds herself in an epic and terrifying battle with a mysterious enemy. But Katie’s not alone after all: a brave young girl appears out of the violent squall. As Katie and her companion struggle across a dark and eerie landscape, against them is an omnipresent terror that could bring about the end of the world.