‘He could feel it. The flutter of butterfly wings that would
herald a brighter, better world. He looked out to the flat, calm ocean,
the moonless night. Beyond the ship’s illumination the dark waters rose
up so that he felt as if he and the ship lay at the centre of a vast
opaque bowl. Then at a distance, under the starlight’s dim flicker, he
saw it. First, a jagged edge, then two irregular peaks, riding black
against the black night sky.’
A mysterious man appears aboard the Titanic on its doomed voyage, his mission to save the ship. The result of his efforts is a worldwhere the United States never entered World War I, thus launching the secret history of the 20th century.
April 2012. Joseph Kennedy, relation of John F. Kennedy, lives in an America occupied on the East Coast by the Germans and on the West Coast by the Japanese. He is on of six people who can restore history to its rightful order--even though it will mean his own death.
From the New York Times bestselling author of One Good Dog comes a novel about a woman’s cross-country journey to find her lost dog, and discover herself.
“My
name is Justine Meade and in my forty-three years there have only been a
handful of people that I have loved. No, that’s an exaggeration. Two.
Two that I lost because of stupidity and selfishness. One was my son.
The other was my dog.”
If there’s been a theme in Justine Meade’s
life, it’s loss. Her mother, her home, even her son. The one bright spot
in her loss-filled life, the partner she could always count on, was
Mack, her gray and black Sheltie—that is, until she is summoned back to
her childhood home after more than twenty years away.
Ed and Alice
Parmalee are mourning a loss of their own. Seven years after their
daughter was taken from them, they’re living separate lives together.
Dancing around each other, and their unspeakable heartbreak, unable to
bridge the chasm left between them. Fiercely loyal, acutely perceptive
and guided by a herd dog’s instinct, Mack has a way of bringing out the
best in his humans. Whether it’s a canine freestyle competition or just
the ebb and flow of a family’s rhythms, it’s as though the little
Shetland Sheepdog was born to bring people together. Susan Wilson's The Dog Who Danced is his story, one that will surely dance its way into your heart.
Thanks to the Book Duo at the Douglas County Libraries, we have found out about Tom Adair, a retired senior criminalist with 15 years of forensic experience and a first time author. To help other authors, he has created a blog that specializes in demystifying forensics for the fiction writers (and readers). Check it out HERE.
Here's more about Adair's book:
Sarah and Daniel have each stood face to face with evil before. This
time they’ll face the threat together. Youthful and impulsive, Sarah is a
tough; no nonsense criminalist determined to measure up to the male
cops around her. Daniel is a former special ops soldier adjusting to
civilian life while working at his uncle’s forensic science center. Now,
two killers have brought them together. One is a psychopathic murderer
who turns the tables on Sarah. The other is a professional assassin only
Daniel understands. Hampered by her inexperience and the sniper’s
knowledge of forensics, Sarah struggles to understand the unusual clues
left at the crime scenes. When Daniel’s mysterious past lands him in
jail, Sarah must overcome her fears as she finds herself trapped between
the killer she is pursuing and the one pursuing her.
The Cold War ended years ago, or did it? For Thurmond Giles, a decorated
African American Air Force veteran found naked, dead, and dangling by
his ankles inside a deactivated minuteman missile silo in desolate
southeastern Wyoming, the answer is no. The labyrinthine investigation
that follows his death—led by former fighter pilot Major Bernadette
Cameron and ex-college baseball phenom-turned-reporter Elgin “Cozy”
Coseia—reveals how the atomic era’s legacy has continued to destroy both
minds and lives.
Astride a Pink Horse follows
Bernadette, Cozy, and Cozy’s boss Freddie Dames match wits with a
gallery of unforgettable murder suspects: a powerful, right-wing-leaning
cattle rancher; a declining seventy-six-year-old WWII-era Japanese
internment camp victim and her unstable math professor cousin; an
idealistic lifelong nuclear arms protestor; and a civilian Air Force
contractor with a twenty-year grudge against the murder victim. Do three
amateur detectives stand a chance against these characters and the
conspiracy that may be behind it all? Robert Greer’s trademark mix of
vivid eccentrics, surprising plot twists, and political edge makes this
one of his most memorable thrillers.
Jackie says: "Professor and doctor by day, mystery writer at night, Denverite Robert Greer has an interesting new stand alone mystery for his many fans. This one stars Elgin 'Cozy' Coseia, once a very promising baseball player, now an investigative reporter, and Major Bernadette Cameron, an investigator for the Office of Special Investigations for the Air Force. Starting from different angles, both are looking into the murder of a nuclear technician, which brings out protestors, which seems to lead to another murder. But there may be more than individual murders being planned in the mastermind's final scenario. Banding the two of them together in a high speed adventure among several Western states, this book is a page turner that leaves you hoping that it just might be the start of a new series."
The Golden Hat: Talking Back to Autism
Doctors told Margret Dagmar that her son Keli, who lives with a
severe form of non-verbal autism, would never be able to communicate;
she was told that he would be best off locked in an institution for the
rest of his life. Driven by a love for her child and a firm sense of
humanity, Margret embarked on a mission to find a way to connect with
him.
Oscar Award-winning actress Kate Winslet paired up with
Margret and Keli to produce a documentary film about their journey.
Eventually the team found an organization called Helping Autism Learning
Outreach (HALO) in Austin, Texas, where specialists taught Keli other
ways to communicate. He now composes beautiful and deeply moving poetry;
one poem Keli wrote is called “The Golden Hat,” which describes a
magical hat that enables an autistic boy to communicate.
Inspired
by Keli’s poem, Winslet developed a truly innovative way to raise
awareness and funds to support autism outreach. Her project asks friends
to pass a hat—chosen from Kate’s closet—from one to another, after
they’ve each taken a self-portrait wearing it. The list of those
photographs includes Angelina Jolie, Steven Spielberg, Oprah, Sting,
Daniel Craig, and many more. The Golden Hat combines elements of
the Dagmars’ incredible odyssey into a beautiful location, featuring
Keli’s original poetry alongside stunning photographs of the world’s
most well-known celebrities wearing “the golden hat.”
The Autism Puzzle
The alarming spike in autism in recent years has sent doctors and parents
on a search for answers. And while many controversies have erupted
around the issue, none have gotten us any closer to a definitive
explanation, and many key concerns remain unexplored. Moving beyond the
distractions of the vaccine debate, The Autism Puzzle is the
first book to address the compelling evidence that it is the pairing of
environmental exposures with genetic susceptibilities that may be
impacting the brain development of children.
Journalist Brita
Belli brings us into the lives of three families with autistic children,
each with different ideas about autism, as she explores the possible
causes. She interprets for readers compelling evidence that
environmental toxins—including common exposures from chemicals mounting
in our everyday lives—may be sparking this disorder in vulnerable
children. Belli calls for an end to the use of hazardous materials—like
toxic flame retardants used in electronics and furniture, which have
been banned elsewhere--insisting that we cannot afford to experiment
with our children. The Autism Puzzle puts a human face on the families caught in between the debates, and offers a refreshingly balanced perspective.
Carly's Voice: Breaking Through Autism
At the age of two, Carly Fleischmann was diagnosed with severe autism
and an oral motor condition that prevented her from speaking. Doctors
predicted that she could never intellectually develop beyond the
abilities of a small child. Although she made some progress after years
of intensive behavioral and communication therapy, Carly remained
largely unreachable. Then, at age ten, Carly had a breakthrough. While
sitting in her kitchen with her devoted therapist Howie, Carly reached
over to the laptop and typed “MEAN,” referring to Howie’s efforts to get
her to do her work for the day. She then went on to further explain her
recalcitrant mood by typing “TEETH HURT,” much to Howie’s astonishment.
This
was the beginning of Carly’s journey toward self-realization. Although
Carly still struggles with all the symptoms of autism, which she
describes with uncanny accuracy and detail, she now has regular, witty,
and profound conversations on the computer with her family, her
therapists, and many thousands of people who follow her via her blog,
Facebook, and Twitter. A 2009 segment on 20/20 brought her story
to national attention, and she has since appeared on television with
Larry King, Ellen DeGeneres, and Holly Robinson Peete, all of whom have
developed warm relationships with her.
In Carly's Voice,
her father, Arthur Fleischmann, blends Carly’s own words with his story
of getting to know his remarkable daughter. One of the first books to
explore firsthand the challenges of living with autism, it brings
readers inside a once-secret world in the company of an inspiring young
woman who has found her voice and her mission.
Autistic? How Silly Is That!
The first book of its kind that tells children with autism they are KIDS
with autism, as it gently pokes fun of the onerous label "autistic".
The readers will feel better about themselves after reading about their
new friend, the narrator, who also HAS autism, as well as many other
more important characteristics. Having autism is just one small part of
his overall character and humanity. And we would never again label him
as simply "autistic".
More about the book the movie is based on:
Fifteen-year-old Camilla Dickinson has led a sheltered life with her
architect father and stunningly beautiful mother. But suddenly the
security she’s always known vanishes as her parents’ marriage begins to
crumble—and Camilla is caught in the middle. Then she meets Frank, her
best friend’s brother, and he’s someone she can really talk to about
life, death, God, and her dream of becoming an astronomer. As Camilla
and Frank roam the streets of New York City together, lost in
conversation, and he introduces her to people who are so different from
anyone she has met before, he opens her eyes to worlds beyond her own,
almost as if he were a telescope helping her to see the stars. But will
Camilla’s first love be all she hopes, or will Frank just add more
heartbreak to her life?
He never wanted to tell Joe Pickett about
it, but Nate Romanowski always knew trouble was coming out of his past.
Now it's here, and it may not only be the battle of his life-but of
Joe's.
In 1995, Nate was in a secret Special Forces unit abroad when a
colleague did something terrible. Now high up in the government, the
man is determined to eliminate anyone who knows about it, and Nate
knows exactly how he'll do it-by striking at Nate's friends to draw him
out. The entire Pickett family will be a target, and the only way to
fight back is outside the law. Nate knows he can do it, but he isn't
sure about his straight-arrow friend-and all their lives could depend
on it.
Lisa C says: "The newest Joe Pickett mystery, for those of us waiting
on the backstory of bad boy-best friend Nate Romanowski, does not
disappoint. Readers will finally understand Nate’s story and why he is what he
is. It is a non-stop thrill ride of murder and mayhem with Joe and his family
right in the middle."
Carl Hiassen,bestselling author of author of eleven hilarious mysteries for adults, and three children's books, including the bestseller Hoot, which was awarded a Newbery Honor. He'll make a return visit to the Historic Lodo Tattered Cover on March 29, at 7 pm, to read from and sign his latest children’s book Chomp . Since 1985 Hiaasen has been writing a regular column for the Miami Herald, which at one time
or another has angered just about everybody in South Florida,
including his own bosses. He has outlasted almost all of them, and his
column still appears most Sundays in The Herald's
opinion-and-editorial section.Hiaasen has received numerous honors, including the Damon Runyon Award
from the Denver Press Club and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the
National Society of Newspaper Columnists.
Free
numbered tickets for a place in line for the booksigning will be handed
out at 6:00 pm. Seating for the presentation prior to the booksigning
is limited, and available on a first-come, first-served basis to
ticketed customers only.
Matt Taibbi beautifully articulates a very Orwellian question that's bothering alot of people by now:
'Where's the incentive to play fair and do well, when what we see
rewarded at the highest levels of society is failure, stupidity,
incompetence and meanness? If this is what winning in our system looks
like, who doesn't want to be a loser? Throughout history, it's
precisely this kind of corrupt perversion that has given birth to
countercultural revolutions. If failure can't fail, the rest of us can
never succeed.'
If you haven't already picked up a copy of
the March issue of Rolling Stone magazine, don't miss Matt Taibbi's
article, 'Too Crooked to Fail' on Bank of America's crime-spree and
government-rescue pattern that serves only to make its failures
ever-more outlandishly catastrophic, at least for those of us not
eligible for its bail-outs. Taibbi traces the institution back to its
roots in 1904 when it chiefly served San Francisco's immigrant community
and in that comparatively beneficent incarnation helped rebuild the
city after its horrific earthquake in 1906... to its bank-acquisition
days in which banker rivals set about competing for consolidation and
dominance coast to coast, morphing eventually into the seething bed of
criminality that bought the mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial in
2008... continuing on to expose such a litany of excess, fraud and
corruption, and, bringing thousands of Americans into foreclosure using
what the author calls 'bogus, robo-signed evidence - a type of mass
perjury that it (BOA) helped pioneer'... that, in a strange way,
government's collusion with the whole mess by 'pumping $45 billion of
taxpayer money into its arm' seems just part and parcel of the whole
zomibified business-as-usual nightmare we find ourselves in today.
Despite
the so far underutilized Dodd-Frank financial reform approved last year
to ostensibly give the government power to diminish the impunity of the
megabanks, teetering on the verge of needing yet another bailout for
yet more spectacular failures seems to work well for its executives...
Says Taibbi, 'This, in essence, is the business model underlying Too
Big to Fail: massive growth based on huge volumes of high-risk loans,
coupled with lots of fraud and cutting corners, followed by huge payouts
to executives. Then with the company on the verge of collapse, the
inevitable state rescue.' Worked pretty well for the firm this last
year since their total bonus/compensation deal amounted to $37 billion.
Oh yeah, and 'Bank of America didn't pay a dime in federal taxes last
year. Or the year before.'
Four friends, recent college graduates, caught in a terrible job
market, joke about turning to kidnapping to survive. And then, suddenly,
it's no joke. For two years, the strategy they devise-quick, efficient,
low risk-works like a charm. Until they kidnap the wrong man.
Now
two groups they've very much wanted to avoid are after them-the law, in
the form of veteran state investigator Kirk Stevens and hotshot young
FBI agent Carla Windermere, and an organized-crime outfit looking for
payback. As they all crisscross the country in deadly pursuit and a
series of increasingly explosive confrontations, each of them is
ultimately forced to recognize the truth: The true professionals, cop or
criminal, are those who are willing to sacrifice . . . everything.
A finger-burning page-turner, filled with twists, surprises, and memorably complex characters, The Professionals marks the arrival of a remarkable new writer.
Friend of TC Eric B. was an early reader, saying: "This
is a first-rate thriller with a cast of 'regular people' who engage in
what seems at first to be a risky but essentially benign sort of
extortion. You'll be rooting for them before it's over even if they are,
well, criminals. Looked at a certain way, any one of us could have
fallen into similar circumstances. Maybe not."
From a folk-rock legend comes a tender, comic story of family, music, and second chances.
Mary Saint, the rule-breaking, troubled former lead singer of the
almost-famous band Sliced Ham, has pretty much given up on music after
the trauma of her band member and lover Garbagio's death seven years
earlier. Instead, with the help of her best friend, Thaddeus, she is
trying to piece her life together while making mochaccinos in San
Francisco. Meanwhile, back in her hometown of Swallow, New York, her
mother, Jean Saint, struggles with her own ghosts.
When Mary is
invited to give a concert at her old high school, Jean is thrilled,
though she's worried about what Father Benedict and her neighbors will
think of songs such as "Sewer Flower" and "You're a Pig." But she soon
realizes that there are going to be bigger problems when the whole
town--including a discouraged teacher and a baker who's anything but
sweet--gets in on the act.
Filled with characters that are wild
and original, yet still familiar and warm--plus plenty of great insider
winks at the music industry--Wayward Saints is a touching and hilarious
look at confronting your past and going home again.
On her website, Roche says:
"I have always loved to read novels, but
whatever drove me to sit down and write one is a mystery. Through the
years I’ve had a tendency to create poems and stories but they remained,
for the most part, private.
I like to think of
Wayward Saints as a fable. I wanted to write about faith and art, and
how it manifests differently in everyone. I also wanted to write about
the absurdity and dangers of the music business, the consequences of
violence, the power of forgiveness, and the possibility of the
miraculous."
Hank says: "With the Roches retired from touring (hopefully not entirely from recording, or making an occasional appearance, but it's not up to me), Suzzy has taken on writing a novel. She's written some great song lyrics, and this extended effort was enjoyable to read. The overall tone is one of gentle fondness toward her characters' foibles, reminiscent of Armistead Maupin or Fannie Flagg, with more than a dash of profanity and good snarky humor for contrast. The story is about a 'Fifteen Minutes of Fame' musician, who is hoping to make at least some kind of comeback, starting in her hometown. The town, and her mother in particular, may not be quite ready for this!"
"One of my favorite ideas is, never to keep
an unnecessary soldier," Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1792. Neither
Jefferson nor the other Founders could ever have envisioned the modern
national security state, with its tens of thousands of "privateers"; its
bloated Department of Homeland Security; its rusting nuclear weapons,
ill-maintained and difficult to dismantle; and its strange fascination
with an unproven counterinsurgency doctrine.
Written with bracing wit and intelligence, Rachel Maddow's Driftargues
that we've drifted away from America's original ideals and become a
nation weirdly at peace with perpetual war, with all the financial and
human costs that entails. To understand how we've arrived at such a
dangerous place, Maddow takes us from the Vietnam War to today's war in
Afghanistan, along the way exploring the disturbing rise of executive
authority, the gradual outsourcing of our war-making capabilities to
private companies, the plummeting percentage of American families whose
children fight our constant wars for us, and even the changing fortunes
of G.I. Joe. She offers up a fresh, unsparing appraisal of Reagan's
radical presidency. Ultimately, she shows us just how much we stand to
lose by allowing the priorities of the national security state to
overpower our political discourse.
Sensible yet provocative, dead serious yet seriously funny, Driftwill
reinvigorate a "loud and jangly" political debate about how, when, and
where to apply America's strength and power--and who gets to make those
decisions.
Dust to Dust is an extraordinary memoir about
ordinary things: life and death, peace and war, the adventures of
childhood and the revelations of adulthood. Benjamin Busch—a decorated
U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer who served two combat tours in Iraq,
an actor on The Wire, and the son of celebrated novelist
Frederick Busch—has crafted a lasting book to stand with the finest work
of Tim O'Brien or Annie Dillard.
In elemental-themed
chapters—water, metal, bone, blood—Busch weaves together a vivid record
of a pastoral childhood in rural New York; Marine training in North
Carolina, Ukraine, and California; and deployment during the worst of
the war in Iraq, as seen firsthand. But this is much more than a war
memoir. Busch writes with great poignancy about the resonance of a
boyhood spent exploring rivers and woods, building forts, and testing
the limits of safety. Most of all, he brings enormous emotional power to
his reflections on mortality: in a helicopter going down; wounded by
shrapnel in Ramadi; dealing with the sudden death of friends in combat
and of parents back home.
Dust to Dust is an unforgettable meditation on life and loss, and how the curious children we were remain alive in us all.
Jackiesays: "'I knew very early that I was a solitary being. I longed for the elemental'. That is how the prologue to this book begins. Two pages into this memoir, I was entranced. Busch has a style of writing that thrills me in a way that I cannot explain--baldly honest, clear eyed and bursting with the visual and tactile as well as profound emotion with a deep seated philosophy a constant undercurrent to the prose. He tells his story through the elements that have made the most impressions on him throughout his life, with chapters named 'Water', 'Soil', 'Wood', 'Stone'. He also reveals his life long affinity toward soldiering in 'Arms', 'Metal', 'Blood'. Yet, just like in life, all of the elements come into play, often mixing together during important times, providing a continuous center that not everyone can identify in themselves. Written as a way through his grief at the loss of his parents--both in less than a year--this book offers up a way for all of us to examine our lives and their components, to see how they built us, where they have taken us or will take us, and what it all means. This is an astonishing book, and I cannot find enough ways to recommend it. I'll settle with, "Please, read this book."
In Some Assembly Required, Anne Lamott enters a new and unexpected chapter of her own life: grandmotherhood.
Stunned to learn that her son, Sam, is about to become a father at
nineteen, Lamott begins a journal about the first year of her grandson
Jax's life.
In careful and often hilarious detail, Lamott and Sam-about whom she first wrote so movingly in Operating Instructions-struggle
to balance their changing roles with the demands of college and work,
as they both forge new relationships with Jax's mother, who has her own
ideas about how to raise a child. Lamott writes about the complex
feelings that Jax fosters in her, recalling her own experiences with Sam
when she was a single mother.
Over the course of the year, the rhythms
of life, death, family, and friends unfold in surprising and joyful
ways.
By turns poignant and funny, honest and touching, Some Assembly Required is the true story of how the birth of a baby changes a family-as this book will change everyone who reads it.
Tuesday, March 27 at 7:30 pm at our Historic Lodo Store:
Anne Lamott returns to Tattered Cover with her latest book Some
Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son (Riverhead), the
story of a new and unexpected chapter of her life: grandmotherhood. Ms.
Lamott, a past recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, is the author of
several New York Times nonfiction bestsellers Bird by Bird,Grace (Eventually), Plan B, Traveling Mercies and Operating Instructions, as
well as seven novels, including Imperfect Birds, Rosie and Crooked Little Heart.
Free
numbered tickets for a good seat and a place in line for the signing
will be handed out at 6:30 pm. Seating for the presentation prior to the
booksigning is limited, and available on a first-come, first-served
basis to ticketed customers only.
“A wonderful book of perfectly simple recipes that every neophyte and experienced cook should have in their kitchen.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review
When people want to learn their way around the kitchen they turn to Mark Bittman, author of the best-selling How to Cook Everything books—contemporary,
comprehensive references for cooks of all ages and abilities. Now, for
the first time ever, Bittman combines classic, elemental recipes with
full-color, step-by-step photos. The result is an accessible tutorial
that offers something for everyone, from true beginners to seasoned
enthusiasts.
How to Cook Everything The Basics is the ultimate teaching tool.
With his signature authoritative and sensible advice, Bittman
demonstrates how easy it is to make delicious everyday food from common
supermarket ingredients. And since this is an unprecedented How to Cook Everything book—with
1,000 beautiful photographs by Romulo Yanes to illustrate every recipe
and technique—the cookbook serves as a comprehensive reference that’s
both visually stunning and utterly practical.
Among the 185 recipes in How to Cook Everything The Basics
are instructions for all the basic techniques, ingredients, and
variations that new—and even not-so-new—cooks need to gain confidence in
the kitchen. Bittman teaches essential lessons through the processes of
cooking: Lentil Soup teaches rinsing and sorting through beans and
softening vegetables; Fried Chicken shows how to coat meat in flour and
test the temperature of oil; and Banana Bread demonstrates greasing a
pan and creaming butter. Cooks can work through the lessons dish by
dish, or cherry pick, using the “Learn More” feature at the end of each
recipe and the “List of Lessons” at the back of the book to quickly
locate specific skills and instructions.
Bittman advances a no-nonsense, practical approach to cooking in all of the book’s unique features:
AGetting Startedchapter helps readers set up the pantry, use seasonings, and identify
equipment, while providing a visual guide to all of the basic
preparation and cooking techniques.
Twenty nine Basics Features are scattered throughout tosimplify
broad subjects with sections like “Think of Vegetables in Groups,” “How
to Cook Any Grain,” and “5 Rules for Buying and Storing Seafood.”
600 demonstration photos
each build on a step from the recipe to teach a core lesson, like
“Cracking an Egg,” “Using Pasta Water,” “Recognizing Doneness,” and
“Crimping the Pie Shut.”
Detailed notes
appear in blue type near selected images. Here, Mark highlights what to
look for during a particular step and offers handy advice and other
helpful asides.
“Is It Done Yet?”
depicts the subtle difference a minute can make when cooking foods like
eggs or pasta; other images capture the moment a sauce thickens, water
simmers steadily, or rice becomes tender.
Bittman teaches cooking in a casual, unfussy way that makes meals as enjoyable to prepare as they are to eat. And How to Cook Everything The Basics is almost like having him in the kitchen with you.
Caldecott Medalist Zelinsky illustrates an outrageously funny and
boundary-breaking story for fans of Jon Scieszka and David Weisner.
Zebra wants to put on a show as simple as A-B-C, but Zebra's friend
Moose has other (unexpected and hilarious) ideas.
Following a snow-filled winter, a young boy and his dog decide that
they've had enough of all that brown and resolve to plant a garden. They
dig, they plant, they play, they wait . . . and wait . . . until at
last, the brown becomes a more hopeful shade of brown, a sign that
spring may finally be on its way. Julie Fogliano's tender story of
anticipation is brought to life by the distinctive illustrations Erin E.
Stead, recipient of the 2011 Caldecott Medal.
On a momentous visit to the aquarium, Elliot discovers his dream pet: a
penguin. It's just proper enough for a straight-laced boy like him. And
when he asks his father if he may have one (please and thank you), his
father says yes. Elliot should have realized that Dad probably thought
he meant a stuffed penguin and not a real one . . . Clever illustrations
and a wild surprise ending make this sly, silly tale of friendship and
wish fulfillment a kid-pleaser from start to finish.
One small boy has a special gift—he can
weave cloth from the clouds: gold in the early morning with the rising
sun, white in the afternoon, and crimson in the evening. He spins just
enough cloth for a warm scarf. But when the king sees the boy's
magnificent cloth, he demands cloaks and gowns galore. "It would not be
wise," the boy protests. "Your majesty does not need them!" But spin he
must—and soon the world around him begins to change.
From author Michael Catchpool and illustrator Alison Jay comes a
magical tale about the beauty and fragility of our natural world, and
the wisdom and courage needed to protect it.
When Penny comes home from school, she is ready to sing her song.
But the babies are sleeping, and Mama and Papa are worried that Penny
will wake them up. Oh, but it is a "good" song, a really "wonderful"
song . . . and Penny wants more than anything to sing it.
What do you think will happen?
When Finn and her dog Skeeter set out on a hike to cure their restless
feet, they literally take a step into nature. A big gooey step...right
into scat (also known as poop). And just like the animal it comes from,
scat comes in all shapes and sizes. Scat, along with foot or paw tracks,
can tell a lot about the creature who produced it.
As Finn's hike takes her further into the woods, she happens along some scat and tracks from a variety of woodland creatures.
Pairing
punchy rhyme with science writing, Lisa Morlock has created the perfect
nature guide, providing detailed descriptions of the prints, diets, and
behaviors of the animals that Finn and Skeeter encounter along their
hike.
A biologist reveals the secret world hidden in a single square meter of forest.
In this wholly original book, biologist David Haskell uses a one-
square-meter patch of old-growth Tennessee forest as a window onto the
entire natural world. Visiting it almost daily for one year to trace
nature's path through the seasons, he brings the forest and its
inhabitants to vivid life.
Each of this book's short chapters begins with a simple observation:
a salamander scuttling across the leaf litter; the first blossom of
spring wildflowers. From these, Haskell spins a brilliant web of
biology and ecology, explaining the science that binds together the
tiniest microbes and the largest mammals and describing the ecosystems
that have cycled for thousands- sometimes millions-of years. Each visit
to the forest presents a nature story in miniature as Haskell elegantly
teases out the intricate relationships that order the creatures and
plants that call it home.
Written with remarkable grace and empathy, The Forest Unseen
is a grand tour of nature in all its profundity. Haskell is a perfect
guide into the world that exists beneath our feet and beyond our
backyards.
1845. New York City forms its first police
force. The great potato famine hits Ireland. These two seemingly
disparate events will change New York City. Forever.
Timothy Wilde tends bar near the Exchange, saving every dollar and
shilling in hopes of winning the girl of his dreams. But when his dreams
literally incinerate in a fire devastating downtown Manhattan, he finds
himself disfigured, unemployed, and homeless. His older brother obtains
Timothy a job in the newly minted NYPD, but he is highly skeptical of
this untested "police force." And he is less than thrilled that his new
beat is the notoriously down-and-out Sixth Ward-at the border of Five
Points, the world's most notorious slum.
One night while returning from his rounds, heartsick and defeated,
Timothy runs into a little slip of a girl—a girl not more than ten years
old—dashing through the dark in her nightshift . . . covered head to
toe in blood.
Timothy knows he should take the girl to the House of Refuge, yet he
can't bring himself to abandon her. Instead, he takes her home, where
she spins wild stories, claiming that dozens of bodies are buried in the
forest north of 23rd Street. Timothy isn't sure whether to believe her
or not, but, as the truth unfolds, the reluctant copper star finds
himself engaged in a battle for justice that nearly costs him his
brother, his romantic obsession, and his own life.
An exceptional debut novel about a
young Muslim war orphan whose family is killed in a military operation
gone wrong, and the American soldier to whom his fate, and survival, is
bound.
Jonas is fifteen when his family is killed during an errant U.S.
military operation in an unnamed Muslim country. With the help of an
international relief organization, he is sent to America, where he
struggles to assimilate-foster family, school, a first love.
Eventually, he tells a court-mandated counselor and therapist about a
U.S. soldier, Christopher Henderson, responsible for saving his life on
the tragic night in question. Christopher's mother, Rose, has dedicated
her life to finding out what really happened to her son, who
disappeared after the raid in which Jonas' village was destroyed. When
Jonas meets Rose, a shocking and painful secret gradually surfaces from
the past, and builds to a shattering conclusion that haunts long after
the final page. Told in spare, evocative prose, The Book of Jonas is about memory, about the terrible choices made during war, and about
what happens when foreign disaster appears at our own doorstep. It is a
rare and virtuosic novel from an exciting new writer to watch.
Cathy says: "This powerful novel of a boy who finds himself a refugee living in Pennsylvania following the destruction of his village by American forces is moving and insightful on many levels. One layer reveals a glimpse at the trauma of an orphaned teenager struggling to deal with violence, horror and an unspeakable secret. Another gives us a sense of the fear and anger and chaos that can overtake otherwise well meaning people. And then we see the way lives fall apart and are slowly rebuilt for families of fallen soldiers. Sympathetic and heartbreaking, The Book of Jonas opened my eyes and grabbed my heart."
Jac
L’Etoile has always been haunted by visions of the past, her earliest
memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up with as the
heir to a storied French perfume company. These worsened after her
mother’s suicide until she finally found a doctor who helped her,
teaching her to explore the mythological symbolism in her visions and
thus lessen their painful impact. This ability led Jac to a wildly
successful career as a mythologist, television personality and author.
When
her brother, Robbie—who’s taken over the House of L’Etoile from their
father—contacts Jac about a remarkable discovery in the family archives,
she’s skeptical. But when Robbie goes missing before he can share the
secret—leaving a dead body in his wake—Jac is plunged into a world she
thought she’d left behind.
Traveling back to Paris to investigate
Robbie’s disappearance, Jac discovers that the secret is a mysterious
scent developed in Cleopatra’s time. Could the rumors swirling be true?
Can this ancient perfume hold the power to unlock the ability to
remember past lives and conclusively prove reincarnation? If this
possession has the power to change the world, then it’s not only worth
living for . . . it’s worth killing for, too.
The Book of Lost Fragrancesfuses
history, passion and suspense in an intoxicating web that moves from
Cleopatra’s Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet’s
battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. This marvelous,
spellbinding novel mixes the sensory allure of Perfumewith the heartbreaking beauty of The Time Traveler’s Wife, coming to life as richly as our most wildly imagined dreams.
You should--there's lots and lots of cool stuff pinned up in there. And we aren't the only booksellers doing it--many stores, publishers, reps, authors, etc. are involved. Read an article about that HERE.
Earwig has been at the orphanage ever since she was a baby. That's
just how she likes it. She has her best friend, Custard, and everyone
always does exactly what Earwig wants. She never wants to leave, so she
makes sure no one ever picks her.
Then a very strange couple
comes to the orphanage. They try to make themselves look ordinary. But
Earwig knows they are not, not in the least. And they choose her, out of
all the other children.
Earwig could be in for quite an unpleasant surprise. But so could the very strange couple.
Jackie says: "This is a hilarious tale of Earwig, a little girl dropped off at a orphanage with a note pinned to her saying 'Got the other twelve witches all chasing me. I'll be back for her when I've shook them off. It may take years. Her name is Earwig.' Though the orphanage had regular tours of potential foster parents going through, Earwig, who has "a very strong personality", managed to never be picked, on purpose. She liked her ability to get whatever she wanted there. However, a very strange couple (though only she seemed to be able to see HOW strange) took her home with them. The woman is a witch who just needs 'an extra pair of hands', and the man is something else (made clear by the horns that are not quite hidden on his head). And so her adventure begins.
This reminds me, in a lot of ways (including a wild hairdo), of Pippi Longstocking, whom I loved greatly in my childhood. This updated version has magical tricks and treats and no small amount of humor. I wish this was to be a series, but alas, Jones passed away in 2011. Still this is an amazing treat, and I can see why Neil Gaiman says 'I would like to declare Diann Wynne Jones an international treasure.'"
In Jennifer duBois’s mesmerizing and
exquisitely rendered debut novel, a long-lost letter links two disparate
characters, each searching for meaning against seemingly insurmountable
odds.
In St. Petersburg, Russia, world chess champion Aleksandr Bezetov
begins a quixotic quest. With his renowned Cold War–era tournaments
behind him, Aleksandr has turned to politics, launching a dissident
presidential campaign against Vladimir Putin. He knows he will not
win—and that he is risking his life in the process—but a deeper
conviction propels him forward. And in the same way that he cannot
abandon his aims, he cannot erase the memory of a mysterious woman he
loved in his youth.
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, thirty-year-old English lecturer Irina
Ellison is on an improbable quest of her own. Certain she has inherited
Huntington’s disease—the same cruel illness that ended her father’s
life—she struggles with a sense of purpose. When Irina finds an old,
photocopied letter her father had written to the young Aleksandr
Bezetov, she makes a fateful decision. Her father had asked the Soviet
chess prodigy a profound question—How does one proceed against a lost cause?—but
never received an adequate reply. Leaving everything behind, Irina
travels to Russia to find Bezetov and get an answer for her father, and
for herself.
Spanning two continents and the dramatic sweep of history, A Partial History of Lost Causes
reveals the stubbornness and splendor of the human will even in the
most trying times. With uncommon perception and wit, Jennifer duBois
explores the power of memory, the depths of human courage, and the
endurance of love.
A Walden for the 21st century, the true story of a man who has radically reinvented "the good life".
In 2000, Daniel Suelo left his life savings-all thirty dollars of it-in
a phone booth. He has lived without money-and with a newfound sense of
freedom and security-ever since.
The Man Who Quit Money
is an account of how one man learned to live, sanely and happily,
without earning, receiving, or spending a single cent. Suelo doesn't pay
taxes, or accept food stamps or welfare. He lives in caves in the Utah
canyonlands, forages wild foods and gourmet discards. He no longer even
carries an I.D. Yet he manages to amply fulfill not only the basic human
needs-for shelter, food, and warmth-but, to an enviable degree, the
universal desires for companionship, purpose, and spiritual engagement.
In retracing the surprising path and guiding philosophy that led Suelo
into this way of life, Sundeen raises provocative and riveting questions
about the decisions we all make, by default or by design, about how we
live-and how we might live better.
Lynn says: "The Man Who Quit Money blends cultural and economic commentary,
philosophy, wilderness adventure and psychology into a page-turning
story that, for this reader, lodges into your consciousness as a 3-way
intimate conversation between author (Mark Sundeen), his subject (Daniel
Suelo) and the reader (albeit with the reader's 'input' on a silent but
still very active plane, you might say). In short, it's the sort of
biography that not only digs beneath the surface of the individual life
described, but that holds up a very clear mirror to the times that that
person is living in.
Suelo's trajectory, from his evangelical Christian
roots, his studies at CU and along a winding spiritual path bringing
him, one might say inexorably, to his paradoxically hermetic and
socially engaged life today might well recall for some the stories of
Christopher McCandless (the subject of John Krakauer's Into the Wild),
Peace Pilgrim back in the '70s, of Mark Boyle (Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living ), Henry David Thoreau or, in
some respects, even of that famous moneyless man, 'El Poverello', St.
Francis of Assisi.
I vividly recall reading about Suelo in
Jason Blevin's article for The Denver Post back in late 2009; "Moab Man Embraces Simple Life Living in Cave". At the time I was taken aback
by the strong reaction the article received by some... that this guy
was some kind of 'parasite', living as he did out of dumpsters and
utilizing the discards of the capitalist culture he eschews. Sundeen's
book makes such assessments a little harder to assert, given the
complexity of this story.
I have to say I am one of those with a
reaction more of wonder and curiosity as to how any of us might learn to
live more simply and with a more profound connection to the natural
world. Evidenced by the surge in interest here in Denver around
'backyard homesteading' with beginner gardeners, beekeepers and
chicken-keepers popping up everywhere, the 'Occupy' encampments
comprised often of otherwise unemployed souls seeking community amongst
their peers, as well as experimentation with bartering and freecycling,
it's clear that Suelo is on to something. For anyone who's ever spent
time away from the city's relentless monetized hold on our psyches,
whether for a short weekend backpacking trip or for months or years off
the normal grid, the liberating feeling of stepping 'outside the box'
of the oft assumed 'end of history' globalized economy we take as an
immutable law of the universe. Daniel Suelo's story will bring
up questions and maybe even a few answers as we navigate our way through
the current permutation of our personal and collective relationship
with that good ol' 'root of all evil', money."
As
a boy, Ellis Barstow heard the sound of the collision that killed
Christopher, his older half brother—an accident that would haunt him for
years. A decade later, searching for purpose after college, Ellis takes
a job as a forensic reconstructionist, investigating and re-creating
the details of fatal car accidents—under the guidance of the irascible
John Boggs, who married Christopher's girlfriend. Ellis takes naturally
to the work, fascinated by the task of trying to find reason, and
justice, within the seemingly random chaos of smashed glass and broken
lives. But Ellis is harboring secrets of his own—not only his memory of
the car crash that killed his brother but also his feelings for Boggs's
wife, Heather, which soon lead to a full-blown affair. And when Boggs
inexplicably disappears, Ellis sets out to find him . . . and to try to
make sense of the crash site his own life has become.
Raising a
host of universal questions—Can science ever explain matters of the
heart? Can we ever escape the gravitational pull of the past?—Nick
Arvin's novel is at once deeply moving and compulsively readable.
Lisa says: "You might
remember Arvin's debut novel Articles of War, which won the
Colorado Book Award and was the One Book
One Denver choice. It is still on my favorites of all time list. The Reconstructionist is as finely
written as his first novel. Nick has a spare way of writing, making each word
necessary to the story. His writing is exquisite, really no other word will do. In the new novel, the
character, Ellis, as a boy hears the fatal car accident which kills his older
half-brother. This changes his life. Years later, after college Ellis becomes a
forensic reconstructionist. He investigates fatal car accidents, finding the
reasons behind them. But Ellis' life takes another turn and becomes its own
crash site. You won't be able to put this book down and trust me, if you haven't
read Articles
of War - you might as well put it immediately on your reading list as
well."
From the bestselling author of The Monsters of Templetoncomes a lyrical and gripping story of a great American dream.
In the fields of western New York State in the 1970s, a few dozen
idealists set out to live off the land, founding what would become a
commune centered on the grounds of a decaying mansion called Arcadia
House.
Arcadia follows this romantic, rollicking, and tragic utopian dream from its hopeful start through its heyday and after.
Arcadia’s inhabitants include Handy, a musician and the group’s
charismatic leader; Astrid, a midwife; Abe, a master carpenter; Hannah, a
baker and historian; and Abe and Hannah’s only child, the book’s
protagonist, Bit, who is born soon after the commune is created.
While Arcadia rises and falls, Bit, too, ages and changes. If he
remains in love with the peaceful agrarian life in Arcadia and deeply
attached to its residents—including Handy and Astrid’s lithe and deeply
troubled daughter, Helle—how can Bit become his own man? How will he
make his way through life and the world outside of Arcadia where he must
eventually live?
With Arcadia, her first novel since her lauded debut, The Monsters of Templeton,
Lauren Groff establishes herself not only as one of the most gifted
young fiction writers at work today but also as one of our most
accomplished literary artists.
Joe says: "As I
devoured the final 150 pages of Arcadia, unable to put it down,
unwilling to leave the fantastic & beautiful world that Lauren Groff
created, a storm was coming in. On high winds and ever-darkening skies,
it seemed tailor-made to the darkening world of Bit Stone, the main
character in this amazing novel. Bit was raised in a utopian world, a
commune in upstate New York, with his parents and their fellow utopians,
eager for the hard work necessary to create an ideal world; a world
without anger, or jealousy, or corporations, or greed or any of the
other things that seem prevalent in our modern world. But cracks seeped
slowly in to their world. Egos, overpopulation, starvation, the clash
between the world Outside and the world of the Arcadians finally drove
the utopians out into the world.
As Bit and his friends and family age
in the world Outside, mostly New York City, Lauren brings the story back
to Arcadia, as the world around become a nightmare of contagion and
disease. As Bit's parents grow old and sick, Bit returns to Arcadia,
long-abandoned but still idyllic and beautiful, where he finally
achieves something of a breakthrough: the ability to slow down and
really see the world around him.
I don't
think I've read a novel quite like this before. Lauren Groff's writing
is down-to-earth, immediate, and catchy. Once I was snared into the
storyline, I didn't want to leave it. This is a poetic novel -- not
because of fancy words or confusing plot-lines -- but because of the
simplistic beauty Groff brings to the page. Her prose is spare: the
words she chooses perfectly bring the world of the Arcadians alive.
Within the novel, Bit and his daughter, Grete, play a game in which they
name beautiful things they have seen, memories of perfect beauty to
them. This book is full of beautiful things, touching characters, tales
both great and small... whole lives are contained in these sweet pages.
Lauren Groff shows her readers the joy and melancholy of life through
not only her writing, but through her characters. Arcadia takes place
in the past, present and future, which somehow made the book all the
more real, all the more immediate, to me. This is a book filled with a
lingering, haunting beauty. It was a book whose energy felt to me to be
affecting the weather outside my window as I read it. One of those rare
books that is so much more than a story: but rather, a living, pulsing
force."
