The Rope by Nevada Barr

From Library Journal: "The adventures of park ranger Anna Pigeon have filled the pages of 16 books, and now her legion of loyal fans can find out how her story began. After her husband's death in 1995, Anna leaves New York City to take a seasonal position at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. On a hike to explore the dry canyon lands around Lake Powell, Anna literally falls into a mystery. Fighting thirst and drug-induced delirium, she extricates herself from the dry well and begins to unravel the who and why of her tortuous ordeal. Barr's luxuriant depictions of desert landscapes with its colors and hues and details about Lake Powell's tourist population are interwoven into the narrative as an indispensable element of her popular series. Anna emerges from this canyon escapade as a strong, determined woman who plans to return to park service employment as a law enforcement ranger, stating that "more women should carry guns." Another awesome winner for Barr."

Silent Enemy by Thomas Young

From Publishers Weekly: "[A]n airborne version of the movie Speed. Soon after takeoff from Afghanistan, Maj. Michael Parson, the pilot of a giant C-5 Galaxy flying patients injured in a terrorist bombing to Germany for medical care, receives the message that there's a bomb on board and it's set to go off if the plane descends to a lower altitude. Besides the bomb threat, they're running out of fuel; they're beset by storms with deadly lightning, devastating hail, and hurricane force winds; an active volcano is spewing ash into the atmosphere; and unfriendly nations that won't allow them to land even if they can defuse the bomb are trying to shoot them out of the air. Aviation thriller aficionados will cheer, and readers of any genre will gnaw their fingernails to the quick."

White Shotgun by April Smith

From Robert Crais, author of the extraordinarily popular and critically acclaimed Elvis Cole novels: "In the language of the mafias, a murder where the body is never found is called lupara bianca, or white shotgun. To disappear with no one knowing how they killed you is a terrible warning, as it haunts the souls of those left behind. April Smith’s White Shotgun will haunt you. She is one of the finest, smartest, most gifted writers working in crime fiction today. White Shotgun is an edgy, realistic, personal trip down the rabbit hole of an FBI undercover operation into one of the ‘mafias.’
Smith renders the southern Italian setting with such honesty and care you will feel the touch of ancient stone and smell espresso as you read. This is Smith’s talent and skill at work (and the work is difficult, believe me), creating not only a balls-to-the-wall crime thriller, but a full-blown novel of depth and richness (and, for the action prone among you, both the best sniper scene and best rendition of a hostage-recovery assault I’ve read, period, bar none.) White Shotgun is a novel about redemption and growth, and the healing power of love and acceptance, and the acceptance of love. Hard won lessons to learn, but worth learning."

Worm: The First Digital World War by Mark Bowden

From the Barnes & Noble Review: 'Veteran journalist Mark Bowden is best known for his battlefront bestsellers Black Hawk Down and Guests of the Ayatollah, but in Worm, he turns to a truly global war that might have already invaded your home. In late 2008, digital experts first became aware of Conficker, a devilishly intricate virus that infected as many as 12 million computers in 200 countries. Worm tracks the double-edged high-tech hunt to find the culprits and neutralize the virus they implanted, taking you inside the strange world cyber-crime fighters, which includes both professionals and good-guy amateurs. A riveting, scary read."

Once There Were Castles by Larry Millett

From Library Journal: "Millett, no stranger to the architectural landscape of the Midwest, serves up a delectable love letter to the lost manors and estates of the greater Minneapolis area. Profiled in this well--illustrated survey are 90 grand and not-so-grand properties that failed to survive the depredations of time, taxes, and changing property values. What's special here is the spotlight on the lives of those who built and lived in these mostly mid- to late Victorian piles. Of the many trenchant tidbits Millett finds, one concerns a widow saddled with perhaps the grandest and most short-lived of manses in Minneapolis: "I did nothing but shop for food to feed [the staff]. My whole life seemed to be running that big house." Millett also showcases the Frank Lloyd Wright prairie houses that didn't survive and even includes a mod-style anomaly from the 1960s. Fans will love the more than 250 vintage photos."

Winter Saturday Family Story Time!

Please come join us this Saturday, January 21, at 9:30am for the second of our special Winter Saturday Family Story Times. Library staff will present a special themed story time including stories, songs, rhymes and a take home craft. This week's theme is Imagination Station. Dress up if you like! Older siblings welcome and no registration required.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

From Library Journal: "Diffenbaugh's debut novel opens on Victoria Jones's 18th birthday, which coincides with her emancipation from California's foster care system. Abandoned at birth, Victoria has grown up in a string of bad foster homes, except for the one year she spent with Elizabeth, a vineyard owner who taught her the meaning of flowers. Alternating between Victoria's brief time with Elizabeth and her unsteady attempt to face life as an adult with little education and less experience, Diffenbaugh weaves together the two narratives using the Victorian language of flowers that ultimately helps shape Victoria's future as she grapples with a painful decision from her past. Victoria might be her own worst enemy, but her defensiveness and self-doubt as a foster child and her desire to live beyond what she was thought capable of will sway readers toward her favor. Fans of Janet Fitch's White Oleander will enjoy this solid and well-written debut, which is also certain to be a hit with book clubs."

A Quiet Vendetta by R.J. Ellory

From Publishers Weekly: "The kidnapping of 19-year-old Catherine Ducane, daughter of Louisiana governor Charles Ducane, and the brutal murder of her driver set the stage for this absorbing crime novel from Ellory covering more than 50 years of mob violence and American history. When the FBI agrees to Ernesto Perez's request to bring Ray Hartmann of the New York district attorney's office to New Orleans, Perez turns himself in. Perez promises to reveal Catherine's whereabouts, but first he must tell his life story as a Mafia hit man to Hartmann. Perez recounts a journey that includes his involvement in at least 19 murders and the mob's links to such figures as the Kennedys, Richard Nixon, and Marilyn Monroe. Perez's goal remains a mystery, as does his selection of Hartmann as his audience, up to the end of this brilliantly conceived tale of greed, politics, family loyalties, and vengeance."

Looking for book suggestions?

Try out the new email service, Any New Books? Here is how they describe themselves: "‘Any New Books?’ is a free notification service that was developed to alert you to new books in categories of your choice. You can currently select from 42 categories that span a broad range of subjects (you’re free to pick however many categories you’d like). For each category that you select when you sign up, you will receive one weekly digest of hand-picked new book releases. The selection process is not automated, because we believe a human editor is better able to pick books that will better appeal to a wide audience." Worth a look - I'm certainly trying it out!

The Hunter by John Lescroart

From Publishers Weekly: “How did your mother die?” For San Francisco PI Wyatt Hunt, that enigmatic text message triggers his biggest, and most personal, case—and it’s a great start to bestseller Lescroart’s outstanding fourth Hunt novel. Hunt, an orphan with few details of his birth parents, soon learns that his birth name was Wyatt Carson; that his mother, Margaret, was murdered; and that his father, Kevin, was charged with the crime but never convicted. He also receives, from the priest who married his parents, a letter from Kevin asserting his innocence. Lescroart deftly handles a large supporting cast and makes fine use of the city of San Francisco while cleverly incorporating a piece of real history into the narrative, the infamous Jonestown massacre in Guyana in 1978 (the “People’s Temple” leader Jim Jones had been active in San Francisco). This book succeeds on every level—as a mystery, as a thriller, and as an exploration of its appealing hero ."

The Sun's Heartbeat by Bob Berman

From Publishers Weekly: "We won't take the Sun for granted any longer if astronomy popularizer Berman, who writes for Astronomy and for years wrote Discover's "Night Watchman" column, has anything to say about it. Though average in the astronomical scheme of the cosmos, the Sun has been worshipped on Earth, its seasonal "movements" clocked by pyramids and Stonehenge. The invention of the telescope showed that the Sun changed over time, with mysterious, random sunspots that were later believed to be linked to Earth's climate. Berman explores every possible aspect of solar physics, from stellar life cycles and solar neutrinos ("neutrinos are everywhere, like roaches in Rio") to future ice ages (at least 50,000 years away). Eclipses, the aurora, and rainbows, all generated by the Sun, come vividly alive through the author's enthusiastic explanations. Best of all, he does this with a conversational style that is consistently as entertaining as it is informative. "[E]verything about the Sun is either amazing or useful," Berman writes, and then proves it, without a doubt."

Great fantasy series you may have missed

From Publishers Weekly: "First in the Tide Lords series, this complex saga... intertwines several vividly realized plots. One follows Arkady Desean, the "Ice Duchess" of Lebec and a scholar of ancient Amyranthan lore, as she interrogates Cayal, a hanged man who inexplicably did not die. She soon encounters legends of the immortal Tide Lords who created the human-animal hybrid slaves called the Crasii--canines to serve, felines to fight, amphibians to pull watercraft--and a thousand years earlier caused the Cataclysm that nearly destroyed the world. Arkady's husband, Duke Stellan, guards his own deadly secret as he maneuvers through palace intrigues and inter-kingdom clashes. Royal spymaster Declan Hawkes secretly aids renegade Crasii and preserves the Cabal, humanity's only protection from the Tide Lords. With snappy dialogue and deft characterizations, especially of her sympathetically drawn canine Crasii, Fallon neatly pulls the story threads together into a multihued tapestry of myth, deceit and ambition."

Science 1001 by Dr. Paul Parsons

From the publisher: "This book presents a comprehensive overview of important scientific concepts and theories in small, digestible chunks. Written for a general audience, it aims to serve both as a reference and as a work of popular science. It covers basic, up-to-date concepts in physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, space, medicine, social science, computing, and applied science and includes a chapter called "future" which is speculative and reads a bit like science fiction."

Winter Saturdays Family Story Times are back!

Back by popular demand on the 1st & 3rd Saturdays of January, February & March, it's Winter Saturdays Family Story Time! Beginning on January 7, come to the library at 9:30am for stories, songs & a take home craft.

Library closed Monday, January 2.

The library will be closed on Monday, January 2 due to the New Year's holiday. We will be open our regular hours (10-8) on Tuesday, January 3. Happy New Year!