Return to flip book view

VIEW FROM OUR SHELVES A Publication Since 1975 Rainy Day Books has provided the Greater Kansas City community with a gathering place a wellspring for ideas and creative thought and an ongoing voice for literacy and awareness VIEW FROM OUR SHELVES showcases titles that are new releases arriving in the month of October hand selected by us While we begin construction and rearrangement inside our store take time to browse our recommendations virtually Once again we re expanding our coverage in this issue to share a wider array of great books We always say there s a book for every reader and this catalog is just the beginning of what we have to offer Please share this catalog link with your friends and family If you find it useful let us know by dropping us a line at mailbox RainyDayBooks com Thank you Volume 1 Issue 3 October 2020

VIEW FROM OUR SHELVES Newly Released Titles from Rainy Day Books A selection of titles that we recommend HOW TO USE THIS BOOK A Guide to Virtual Browsing 1 Navigational tools are your friend Use the arrows on either side of the page to turn the page Almost as fun as turning a real book s page 2 CLICK Throughout the catalog each book listing has a clickable link Feel free to click on them to follow your favorite books back to RainyDayBooks com 3 SHARE with your friends Click on this symbol in the bottom right corner 4 You can download and install the catalog on your device for Offline Viewing using the Chrome Browser by Google Click on this icon 5 Enjoy the browse And remember there s more to see at RainyDayBooks com

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 8 FICTION 9 12 MYSTERY THRILLER 13 14 SCI FI ROMANCE 15 18 BIOGRAPHY MEMOIR 19 24 NON FICTION 25 26 COOKBOOKS 27 28 BABY BOOKS 29 32 PICTURE BOOKS 33 36 MIDDLE READER 37 38 NON FICTION FOR KIDS 39 42 YOUNG ADULT FICTION

FICTION A Time for Mercy John Grisham Hardcover Jake Brigance is back The hero of A Time to Kill one of the most popular novels of our time returns Bursting with all the courthouse scheming small town intrigue and stunning plot twists that have become the hallmarks of the master of the legal thriller A Time for Mercy is John Grisham s most powerful courtroom drama yet There is a time to kill and a time for justice Now comes A Time for Mercy Vivien s STAFF PICK The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop Fannie Flagg Hardcover A heartwarming novel about secrets of youth rediscovered hometown memories and the magical moments in ordinary lives from the beloved author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Reading this novel is like entering a second childhood Kirkus Reviews Jack Marilynne Robinson Hardcover Lisa STAFF PICK Marilynne Robinson s mythical world of Gilead Iowa the setting of her novels Gilead Home and Lila and now Jack and its beloved characters have illuminated and interrogated the complexities of American history the power of our emotions and the wonders of a sacred world Jack is Robinson s fourth novel in this now classic series In it Robinson tells the story of John Ames Boughton the prodigal son of Gilead s Presbyterian minister and his romance with Della Miles a high school teacher who is also the child of a preacher Their romance resonates with all the paradoxes of American life then and now Magic Lessons Alice Hoffman Hardcover In an unforgettable novel that traces a centuries old curse to its source beloved author Alice Hoffman unveils the story of Maria Owens accused of witchcraft in Salem and matriarch of a line of the amazing Owens women and men featured in Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic Magic Lessons is a celebration of life and love and a showcase of Alice Hoffman s masterful storytelling 3

FICTION Geoffrey s STAFF PICK Cuyahoga Pete Beatty Hardcover A spectacularly inventive debut novel that reinvents the tall tale for our times In Cuyahoga tragedy and farce jumble together in a riotously original voice Evoking the Greek classics and the Bible alongside nods to Looney Tunes Charles Portis and Flannery O Connor Pete Beatty has written a rollicking revisionist mid Western with universal themes of family and fate an old weird America that feels brand new The Cold Millions Jess Walter Hardcover The author of the 1 New York Times bestseller Beautiful Ruins delivers another literary miracle NPR a propulsive richly entertaining novel about two brothers swept up in the turbulent class warfare of the early twentieth century An intimate story of brotherhood love sacrifice and betrayal set against the panoramic backdrop of America that eerily echoes our own time The Cold Millions offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of a nation grappling with the chasm between rich and poor featuring an unforgettable cast of cops and tramps suffragists and socialists madams and murderers Deadly Education Naomi Novik Hardcover From the New York Times bestselling author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic The dark school of magic I ve been waiting for Katherine Arden author of Winternight Trilogy With flawless mastery Naomi Novik creates a heroine for the ages a character so sharply realized and so richly nuanced that she will live on in hearts and minds for generations to come Goodnight Beautiful Aimee Molloy Hardcover From master of clever misdirection Kirkus Reviews Aimee Molloy author of the New York Times bestseller The Perfect Mother comes an irresistible psychological thriller featuring a newly married woman whose life is turned upside down when her husband goes missing Showcasing Molloy s deft ability to subvert norms and culminating in the kind of stunning twist that is becoming her trademark Goodnight Beautiful is a thrilling tale of domestic suspense that not only questions assumptions but defies expectations 4

FICTION The Invisible Life of Addie Larue V E Schwab Hardcover The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is New York Times bestselling author V E Schwab s genre defying tour de force France 1714 in a moment of desperation a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents across history and art as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world But everything changes when after nearly 300 years Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name Just Like You Nick Hornby Hardcover This warm wise highly entertaining twenty first century love story is about what happens when the person who makes you happiest is someone you never expected Just Like You is a brilliantly observed tender but also brutally funny new novel that gets to the heart of what it means to fall surprisingly and headlong in love with the best possible person someone you didn t see coming Leave the World Behind Rumaan Alam Hardcover Mary s STAFF PICK LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION A magnetic novel about two families strangers to each other who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong Suspenseful and provocative Rumaan Alam s new novel is keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood race and class Leave the World Behind explores how our closest bonds are reshaped and unexpected new ones are forged in moments of crisis Memorial A Novel Bryan Washington Hardcover A funny and profound story about family in all its strange forms joyful and hard won vulnerability becoming who you re supposed to be and the limits of love Benson and Mike are two young guys who live together in Houston Mike is a Japanese American chef at a Mexican restaurant and Benson s a Black day care teacher and they ve been together for a few years good years but now they re not sure why they re still a couple Both men will change in ways that will either make them stronger together or fracture everything they ve ever known And just maybe they ll all be okay in the end 5

FICTION Vivien s STAFF PICK The Midnight Library Matt Haig Hardcover Between life and death there is a library and within that library the shelves go on forever Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived To see how things would be if you had made other choices Would you have done anything different if you had the chance to undo your regrets A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time Missionaries Phil Klay Hardcover In the modern world everything is connected including how we kill A group of Colombian soldiers prepares to raid a drug lord s safe house on the Venezuelan border They re watching him with an American made drone about to strike using military tactics taught to them by U S soldiers who honed their skills to lethal perfection in Iraq In his debut novel Missionaries National Book Award winning author and Iraq War veteran Phil Klay examines the globalization of violence through the interlocking stories of four characters and the conflicts that define their lives The Silence Don DeLillo Hardcover From one of the most dazzling and essential voices in American fiction a timely and compelling novel set in the near future about five people gathered together in a Manhattan apartment in the midst of a catastrophic event Don DeLillo completed this novel just weeks before the advent of Covid 19 The Silence is the story of a different catastrophic event Its resonances offer a mysterious solace Never has the art of fiction been such an immediate guide to our navigation of a bewildering world A Wild Winter Swan Gregory Maguire Hardcover After brilliantly reimagining the worlds of Oz Wonderland Dickensian London and the Nutcracker the New York Times bestselling author of Wicked turns his unconventional genius to Hans Christian Andersen s The Wild Swans transforming this classic tale into an Italian American girl s poignant coming of age story set amid the magic of Christmas in 1960s New York A haunting beautiful tale of magical realism that illuminates one young woman s heartbreak and hope as she begins the inevitable journey to adulthood 6

FICTION The Blind Light Stuart Evers Hardcover England 1959 two young soldiers Drummond and Carter form an intense and unlikely friendship at Doom Town a training center that recreates the aftermath of atomic warfare The experience will haunt them the rest of their lives Years later Carter now a high ranking government official offers working class Drummond a way to protect himself and his wife Gwen should a nuclear strike occur Their pact kept secret will have devastating consequences for the families they so wish to shield The Constant Rabbit Jasper Fforde Hardcover Becci s STAFF PICK England 2022 There are 1 2 million human size rabbits living in the UK They can walk talk drive cars and they like to read Voltaire the result of an Inexplicable Anthropomorphizing Event fifty five years before Bestselling author Jasper Fforde invokes John le Carr George Orwell and Beatrix Potter in this tongue in cheek political satire of systemic injustice bureaucratic corruption and human foibles An inimitable blend of satire fantasy and thriller The Constant Rabbit is the latest dazzlingly original foray into Jasper Fforde s ever astonishing creative genius Jeeves and the Leap of Faith Ben Schott Vivien s STAFF PICK Hardcover Jeeves and Wooster return in a new espionage caper full of japes high jinks and jiggery pokery in a series that is impossible to read without grinning idiotically In his eagerly anticipated sequel to Jeeves and the King of Clubs Ben Schott leads Jeeves and Wooster on another elegantly uproarious escapade From the mean streets of Mayfair to the scheming spires of Cambridge we encounter a joyous cast of characters chiseling painters and criminal bookies eccentric philosophers and dodgy clairvoyants appalling poets and pocket dictators vexatious aunts and their vicious hounds Shelter in Place David Leavitt Hardcover Shelter in Place is a novel about house and home furniture and rooms safety and freedom and the invidious ways in which political upheaval can undermine even the most seemingly impregnable foundations A comic portrait of the months immediately following the 2016 election Shelter in Place is also a meditation on the unreliable appetites for love for power for freedom by which both our public and private lives are shaped 7

FICTION Peggy s STAFF PICK The Devil and the Dark Water Stuart Turton Hardcover It s 1634 and Samuel Pipps the world s greatest detective is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may or may not have committed Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard Arent Hayes who is determined to prove his friend innocent But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage A twice dead leper stalks the decks Strange symbols appear on the sails Livestock is slaughtered Anyone could be to blame Even a demon For fans of Steven King The Devil and the Dark Water brings a chilling new spin to the Sherlock Holmes detective duo in a thriller of supernatural horror occult suspicion and paranormal mystery on the high seas The Talented Miss Farwell Geoffrey s Emily Gray Tedrowe STAFF PICK Hardcover Catch Me If You Can meets Patricia Highsmith in this electrifying page turner of greed and obsession survival and self invention that is a piercing character study of one unforgettable female con artist Becky Farwell is one of the most wickedly compelling characters I ve read in ages a Machiavellian marvel a modern Becky Sharp a character to root for despite your better judgment and her story both topical and timeless will knock you off your feet Rebecca Makkai author of The Great Believers Earthlings A Novel Sayaka Murata Hardcover From the beloved author of cult sensation Convenience Store Woman which has now sold more than one million copies worldwide and has been translated into thirty three languages comes a spellbinding and otherworldly novel about a woman who believes she is an alien In Earthlings Sayaka Murata pushes at the boundaries of our ideas of social conformity in this brilliantly imaginative intense and absolutely unforgettable novel Daughter of Black Lake Cathy Marie Buchanan Hardcover In a northern misty bog surrounded by woodlands and wheat fields a settlement lies far beyond the reach of the Romans invading hundreds of miles to the southeast Here life is simple to the tightly knit community A girl named Devout comes of age and envisions a future of love and abundance Seventeen years later though the settlement is a changed place Famine has brought struggle to the doorstep For Devout s young daughter life is more troubled than her mother ever anticipated But this girl has an extraordinary gift As worlds collide and peril threatens it will be up to her to save her family and community 8

MYSTERY THRILLER The Sentinel Lee Child with Andrew Child Hardcover One morning Jack Reacher ends up in a town near Pleasantville Tennessee But there s nothing pleasant about the place In broad daylight Reacher spots a hapless soul walking into an ambush The man he saves is Rusty Rutherford an unassuming IT manager recently fired after a cyber attack locked up the town s data records information and secrets Rutherford wants to stay put look innocent and clear his name Reacher is intrigued There s more to the story Rule one if you don t know the trouble you re in keep Reacher by your side Sleep Donation Karen Russell Paperback For the first time in paperback a haunting novella from the uncannily imaginative author of the national bestsellers Swamplandia and Orange World the story of a deadly insomnia epidemic and the lengths one woman will go to fight it Fully illustrated with dreamy evocations of Russell s singular imagination and featuring a brandnew Nightmare Appendix Sleep Donation will keep readers up long into the night and long after haunt their dreams V2 Geoffrey s STAFF PICK Robert Harris Hardcover It s November 1944 Willi Graf a German rocket engineer is launching Nazi Germany s V2 rockets at London from Occupied Holland Kay Connolly once an actress now a young English Intelligence officer ships out for Belgium to locate the launch sites and neutralize the threat But when rumors of a defector circulate through the German ranks Graf becomes a suspect Unknown to each other Graf and Connolly find themselves on opposite sides in the hunt for the saboteur Their destinies are on a collision course Confessions on the 7 45 Becci s STAFF PICK Lisa Unger Hardcover Selena Murphy is commuting home from her job in the city when the train stalls out on the tracks She strikes up a conversation with a stranger in the next seat and their connection is fast The woman confesses that she s been stuck in an affair with her boss Selena in turn confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny When the train arrives at Selena s station the two women part ways presumably never to meet again But days later Selena s nanny disappears Expertly plotted and reminiscent of the timeless classic Strangers on a Train Confessions on the 7 45 is a gripping thriller about the delicate facades we create around our lives 9

MYSTERY THRILLER How to Raise an Elephant Alexander McCall Smtih Hardcover The next book in the perennially adored No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series sees Precious Ramotswe calling upon all her maternal instincts when she s faced with a two ton case They say it takes a village to raise a child but can Mma Ramotswe and the rest of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency come together to raise a pipsqueak pachyderm We may find out in this novel We may not Who can say Three Women Disappear James Patterson Hardcover Sarah his personal chef Anna his wife Serena his maid Accountant Anthony Costello has a talent for manipulating both numbers and people turning losses into profits enemies into allies and vice versa When Costello is found murdered in his own home three suspects had motive All three had access to his home And all three women are missing Are they in the wind or in the grave Eyes are on Detective Sean Walsh whose personal connection to the case is stronger than leads to solve it Neither the powerful bankroll behind Costello nor Walsh s vengeful superior officer can budge the investigation yet as Walsh continues to dig he uncovers even more reasons the women have to stay hidden from the law and from each other Shakeup Stuart Woods Hardcover Upon returning from a dangerous coastal adventure Stone Barrington is looking forward to some normalcy with the leading lady in his life But when a grisly crime arrives on his doorstep along with some suspicious new clients eager for his help Stone realizes peace and quiet are no longer an option Geoffrey s STAFF PICK The Searcher Tana French Hardcover A spellbinding propulsive new novel from the bestselling mystery writer who is in a class by herself The New York Times Cal Hooper thought a fixer upper in a bucolic Irish village would be the perfect escape After twenty five years in the Chicago police force and a bruising divorce he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens But when a local kid whose brother has gone missing arm twists him into investigating Cal uncovers layers of darkness beneath his picturesque retreat and starts to realize that even small towns shelter dangerous secrets 10

MYSTERY THRILLER Mary s STAFF PICK Fortune Favors the Dead Stephen Spotswood Hardcover Bullets blood bodies and belly laughs all the ingredients of a classic mystery novel Stephen Spotswood hard boils with the best of em Alan Bradley bestselling author of the Flavia de Luce Mystery Series A wildly charming and fast paced mystery written with all the panache of the hardboiled classics Fortune Favors the Dead introduces Pentecost and Parker an audacious new detective duo for the ages Snow John Banville Hardcover Vivien s STAFF PICK Detective Inspector St John Strafford has been summoned to County Wexford to investigate a murder A parish priest has been found dead in Ballyglass House the family seat of the aristocratic secretive Osborne family The year is 1957 and the Catholic Church rules Ireland with an iron fist As he delves further he learns the Osbornes are not at all what they seem And when his own deputy goes missing Strafford must work to unravel the ever expanding mystery before the community s secrets like the snowfall itself threaten to obliterate everything A Song for the Dark Times Ian Rankin Becci s STAFF PICK Hardcover When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night John Rebus knows it s not good news Her husband has been missing for two days Rebus fears the worst and knows from his lifetime in the police that his daughter will be the prime suspect He wasn t the best father the job always came first but now his daughter needs him more than ever But is he going as a father or a detective As he leaves at dawn to drive to the windswept coast and a small town with big secrets he wonders whether this might be the first time in his life where the truth is the one thing he doesn t want to find Agatha Christie s Poirot Mark Aldridge Hardcover Hercule Poirot has had a near permanent presence in the public eye ever since the 1920 publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles From Agatha Christie s earliest conceptions and publication history to forays on the stage and screen the story of Poirot is as fascinating as it is enduring Mark Aldridge tells this story decadeby decade exploring and analyzing Poirot s many and often wildly different appearances Packed with original research never before published correspondence and images from the Agatha Christie archives Agatha Christie s Poirot will delight fans of Hercule Poirot and mystery lovers alike 11

MYSTERY THRILLER Cardiff by the Sea Joyce Carol Oates Hardcover From one of the most important contemporary American writers Cardiff by the Sea is a bold haunting collection of four previously unpublished novellas In the titular novella an academic in Pennsylvania discovers a terrifying trauma from her past after inheriting a house in Cardiff Maine from someone she has never heard of In these psychologically daring chillingly suspenseful pieces Joyce Carol Oates writes about women facing threats past and present The Book of Lamps and Banners Elizabeth Hand Hardcover Photographer Cass Neary is desperate to get home and she s already lost her camera like losing a limb Now her only chance is to cash in on a deal that a friend is about to cut for a legendary illuminated manuscript The Book of Lamps and Banners Rumored to have been rescued from the Library at Alexandria the Book is said to contain ancient esoteric knowledge even an otherworldly power So when an intruder brazenly steals the manuscript Cass and her ex con lover Quinn must get it back plunging headlong into a shady underworld where antiquarian booksellers unhinged tech entrepreneurs and brutal nationalists all converge The Gift of the Magpie Donna Andrews Hardcover The 28th book and the seventh Christmas mystery in the Meg Langslow series The Gift of the Magpie is yet another wonderfully merry and funny book from New York Times bestselling author Donna Andrews Meg s running Caerphilly s Helping Hands for the Holidays project in which neighbors help each other with things they can t do and can t afford to have done Her hopes for a relatively peaceful if busy Christmas vanish when someone murders Harvey the Hoarder whose house the Helping Hands were de cluttering Was there any truth to the rumor that he had something valuable hidden beneath all his junk A Crime of a Different Stripe Sally Goldenbaum Hardcover When a body is discovered at Sea Harbor s opening reception for the autumn art series the Seaside Knitters must take a break from stitching baby gear to unravel a series of secrets in Sally Goldenbaum s 15th Seaside Knitters Society mystery 12

SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE Battle Ground Dresden Files 17 Jim Butcher Hardcover Harry Dresden has faced terrible odds before He has a long history of fighting enemies above his weight class But this time it s different A being more powerful and dangerous on an order of magnitude beyond what the world has seen in a millennium is coming And she s bringing an army The Last Titan has declared war on the city of Chicago and has come to subjugate humanity obliterating any who stand in her way Harry s mission is simple but impossible Save the city by killing a Titan And the attempt will change Harry s life Chicago and the mortal world forever Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series James Hibberd Hardcover The official definitive oral history of the blockbuster show from Entertainment Weekly s James Hibberd published with HBO s official support It was supposed to be impossible George R R Martin was a frustrated television writer who created his bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novels to be an unfilmable saga bound only by the limits of his vast imagination Then a pair of first time TV writers teamed with HBO to try and adapt Martin s epic One Game of Thrones tale that has yet to be told the 13 year behind the scenes struggle to pull off this extraordinary phenomenon Attack Surface Cory Doctorow Hardcover Most days Masha Maximow was sure she d chosen the winning side In her day job as a counter terrorism wizard she made the hacks that allowed repressive regimes to spy on dissidents and manipulate their every move The perks were fantastic and the pay was obscene Masha sometimes used her mad skills to help if their cause was just It was a dangerous game and a hell of a rush But unsustainable Masha realizes she has to choose And whatever choice she makes someone is going to get hurt Black Sun Between Earth and Sky Rebeca Roanhorse Hardcover From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars Resistance Reborn comes the first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy inspired by the civilizations of the Pre Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies political intrigue and forbidden magic 13

SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE Geoffrey s STAFF PICK To Hold Up the Sky Cixin Liu Hardcover In To Hold Up the Sky Cixin Liu takes us across time and space from a rural mountain community where elementary students must use physics to prevent an alien invasion to coal mines in northern China where new technology will either save lives of unleash a fire that will burn for centuries to a time very much like our own when superstring computers predict our every move to 10 000 years in the future when humanity is finally able to begin anew to the very collapse of the universe itself These stories came into being during decades of major change in China and will take you across time and space through the eyes of one of science fiction s most visionary writers Love Your Life Sophie Kinsella Hardcover From the 1 New York Times bestselling author of I Owe You One an utterly delightful novel about a woman who ditches her dating app for a writer s retreat in Italy only to find that real love comes with its own filters As close to perfect as romantic comedies get Jenny Colgan New York Times bestselling author of The Bookshop on the Corner Return to Virgin River Robyn Carr Taunda s STAFF PICK Hardcover 1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr returns to the beloved town of Virgin River with a brand new story about fresh starts new friends and the magic of Christmas Kaylee s world is expanding in ways she never dreamed possible And when she rescues a kitten followed by a dog with a litter of puppies she finds her heart opening up to the animals who need her And then there s the dog trainer who knows exactly how to help her As the holidays approach Kaylee s dread turns to wonder Because there s no better place to spend Christmas than Virgin River The Brightest Star Fern Michaels Hardcover Perfect for fans of Debbie Macomber and readers who can t get enough Hallmark movies this special Christmas treat will warm your heart just in time for the cozy holiday season A sparkling new novel from 1 New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels is exactly what you need to get in the spirit of the season 14

BIOGRAPHY MEMOIR Frontier Follies Adventures in Marriage and Motherhood in the Middle of Nowhere Ree Drummond Hardcover A down to earth hilarious collection of stories and musings on marriage motherhood and country life from the 1 New York Times bestselling author and star of the Food Network show The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond A celebration of family life love and mostly laughter Frontier Follies is a keepsake to curl up with have a good laugh and remember all that s wonderful and funny about family Is This Anything Jerry Seinfeld Hardcover The first book in twenty five years from Jerry Seinfeld features his best work across five decades in comedy For this book Jerry Seinfeld has selected his favorite material organized decade by decade In page after hilarious page one brilliantly crafted observation after another readers will witness the evolution of one of the great comedians of our time and gain new insights into the thrilling but unforgiving art of writing stand up comedy The Dead are Arising The Life of Malcolm X Les Payne Tamara Payne Hardcover A historic biography that conjures a never before seen world of its protagonist a work whose title is inspired by a phrase Malcolm X used when he saw his Hartford followers stir with purpose as if the dead were truly arising to overcome the obstacles of racism Setting Malcolm s life not only within the Nation of Islam but against the larger backdrop of American history the book traces the life of one of the twentieth century s most politically relevant figures from street criminal to devoted moralist and revolutionary Red Comet The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath Heather Clark Hardcover The highly anticipated new biography of Sylvia Plath that focuses on her remarkable literary and intellectual achievements while restoring the woman behind the long held myths about her life and art Along with illuminating readings of the poems themselves Clark s meticulous compassionate research brings us closer than ever to the spirited woman and visionary artist who blazed a trail that still lights the way for women poets the world over 15

BIOGRAPHY MEMOIR Vivien s STAFF PICK Abe Abraham Lincoln in His Times David S Reynolds Hardcover From one of the great historians of nineteenth century America a revelatory and enthralling new biography of Lincoln many years in the making that brings him to life within his turbulent age David S Reynolds understands the currents in which Abraham Lincoln swam as well as anyone alive His magisterial biography Abe is the product of full body immersion into the riotous tumult of American life in the decades before the Civil War Eleanor Lisa s STAFF PICK David Michaelis Hardcover A breakthrough portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt America s longest serving First Lady an avatar of democracy whose ever expanding agency as diplomat activist and humanitarian made her one of the world s most widely admired and influential women Drawing on new research Michaelis s riveting portrait is not just a comprehensive biography of a major American figure but the story of an American ideal how our freedom is always a choice Leonard Cohen Untold Stories The Early Years Michael Posner Hardcover The extraordinary life of one of the world s greatest music and literary icons in the words of those who knew him best In this revealing and entertaining first volume bestselling author and biographer Michael Posner draws on hundreds of interviews to reach beyond the Cohen of myth and reveal the unique complex and compelling figure of the real man Geoffrey s STAFF PICK This Thing Called Life Prince s Odyssey On and Off the Record Neal Karlen Hardcover This Thing Called Life profoundly changes what we know about Prince and explains him as no biography has a superstar who calls in the middle of the night to talk who loved The Wire and could quote from every episode of The Office who frequented libraries and jammed spontaneously for local crowds and fed everyone pancakes afterward who was lonely but craved being alone Featuring never before seen photos 16

BIOGRAPHY MEMOIR Cary Grant A Brilliant Disguise Scott Eyman Hardcover Film historian and bestselling biographer Scott Eyman has written the definitive biography of Hollywood legend Cary Grant one of the most accomplished and beloved actors of his generation who remains as popular as ever today Drawing on Grant s own papers extensive archival research and interviews with family and friends this is the definitive portrait of a movie immortal Do You Feel Like I Do A Memoir Peter Frampton with Alan Light Hardcover Do You Feel Like I Do is the incredible story of Peter Frampton s positively resilient life and career told in his own words for the first time His monumental album Frampton Comes Alive spawned three top twenty singles and sold eight million copies the year it was released more than seventeen million to date and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in January 2020 His Very Best Jimmy Carter A Life Jonathan Alter Vivien s STAFF PICK Hardcover The first full length biography of Jimmy Carter the 39th President of the United States and Nobel Prize winning humanitarian A surprising portrait of the only president since Thomas Jefferson who can fairly be called a Renaissance Man a complex figure ridiculed and later revered with a piercing intelligence prickly intensity and biting wit beneath the patented smile Here is a flawed but underrated president of decency and vision who was committed to telling the truth to the American people I ll Be Seeing You A Memoir Elizabeth Berg Hardcover The beloved New York Times bestselling author tells the poignant love story of caring for her parents in their final years in this beautifully written memoir I ll Be Seeing You charts the passage from the anguish of loss to the understanding that even in the most fractious times love can heal transform and lead to graceful and grateful acceptance 17

BIOGRAPHY MEMOIR Loved and Wanted A Memoir of Choice Children and Womanhood Christa Parravani Hardcover Loved and Wanted is the passionate story of a woman s love for her children and a poignant and bracing look at the difficult choices women in America are forced to make every day in a nation where policies and a cultural war on women leave them without sufficient agency over their bodies their futures and even their hopes for their children s lives Mad at the World A Life of John Steinbeck William Souder Vivien s Hardcover STAFF PICK The first full length biography of the Nobel laureate to appear in a quarter century Mad at the World illuminates what has made the work of John Steinbeck an enduring part of the literary canon his capacity for empathy Steinbeck remains our great social realist novelist the writer who gave the dispossessed and the disenfranchised a voice in American life and letters Eloquent nuanced and deeply researched Mad at the World captures the full measure of the man and his work Philip and Alexander Kings and Conquerors Adrian Goldsworthy Hardcover This definitive biography of one of history s most influential father son duos tells the story of two rulers who gripped the world and their rise and fall from power Alexander the Great s conquests staggered the world He led his army across thousands of miles overthrowing the greatest empires of his time and building a new one in their place He claimed to be the son of a god but he was actually the son of Philip II of Macedon This is the groundbreaking biography of two men who together conquered the world Stalin Passage to Revolution Ronald Grigor Suny Hardcover This is the definitive biography of Joseph Stalin from his birth to the October Revolution of 1917 a panoramic and often chilling account of how an impoverished idealistic youth from the provinces of tsarist Russia was transformed into a cunning and fearsome outlaw who would one day become one of the twentieth century s most ruthless dictators A landmark achievement Stalin paints an unforgettable portrait of a driven young man who abandoned his religious faith to become a skilled political operative and a single minded and ruthless rebel 18

NON FICTION Nala s World One Man His Rescue Cat and a Bike Ride around the Globe Geoffrey s STAFF PICK Dean Nicholson with Garry Jenkins Hardcover When 30 year old Dean Nicholson set off from Scotland to cycle around the world his aim was to learn as much as he could about our troubled planet But he hadn t bargained on the lessons he d learn from his unlikely companion Three months after leaving home on a remote road in the mountains between Montenegro and Bosnia he came across an abandoned kitten Something about the piercing eyes and plaintive meowing of the bedraggled little cat proved irresistible He couldn t leave her to her fate so he put her on his bike and then with the help of local vets nursed her back to health Soon on his travels with the cat he named Nala they forged an unbreakable bond both curious independent resilient and adventurous Big Dog Little Dog Seth Casteel Hardcover From the bestselling photographer behind Underwater Dogs and Underwater Puppies a new irresistibly cute concept featuring tiny dogs and giant dogs side by side A collection of stunning photographs each featuring two dogs one big one small These unexpected pairs are utterly adorable making this book the perfect gift for the biggest or littlest dog lover in your life or the perfect coffee table book for anyone who loves cute pups The Radiant Lives of Animals Linda Hogan Hardcover Concerned that human lives and the natural world are too often defined by people who are separated from the land and its inhabitants Indigenous writer and environmentalist Linda Hogan depicts her own intense relationships with animals as an example we all can follow to heal our souls and reconnect with the spirit of the world This beautifully packaged gift is a reverential reminder for all of us to witness and appreciate the radiant lives of animals Nose Dive A Field Guide to the World s Smells Harold McGee Hardcover Here is a story of the world of all of the smells under our collective nose A work of astounding scholarship and originality Nose Dive distills the science behind the smells and translates it as only Harold McGee James Beard Award winning author can into an accessible and entertaining guide Incorporating the latest insights of biology and chemistry and interwoven with personal observations McGee reveals how our sense of smell has the power to expose invisible intangible details of our material world and life and trigger in us feelings that are the very essence of being alive 19

NON FICTION Roger s STAFF PICK The 99 Invisible City A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design Roman Mars Kurt Kohlstedt Hardcover 99 Invisible is a big ideas podcast about small seeming things revealing stories baked into the buildings we inhabit the streets we drive and the sidewalks we traverse The show celebrates design and architecture in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity with intriguing tales of both designers and the people impacted by their designs Now in The 99 Invisible City A Field Guide to Hidden World of Everyday Design zoom in on the various elements that make our cities work exploring the origins and other fascinating stories behind everything from power grids and fire escapes to drinking fountains and street signs Ex Libris 100 Books to Read and Reread Michiko Kakutani Geoffrey s STAFF PICK Hardcover In the introduction to her new collection of essays Ex Libris 100 Books to Read and Reread Michiko Kakutani writes In a world riven by political and social divisions literature can connect people across time zones and zip codes across cultures and religions national boundaries and historical eras It can give us an understanding of lives very different from our own and a sense of the shared joys and losses of human experience The Zealot and the Emancipator John Brown Abraham Lincoln and the Struggle for American Freedom H W Brands Lisa s STAFF PICK Hardcover Gifted storyteller and bestselling historian H W Brands narrates the epic struggle over slavery as embodied by John Brown and Abraham Lincoln two men moved to radically different acts to confront our nation s gravest sin The Zealot and the Emancipator is acclaimed historian H W Brands s thrilling and page turning account of how two American giants shaped the war for freedom The Purpose of Power How We Come Together When We Fall Apart Alicia Garza Hardcover An essential guide to building transformative movements to address the challenges of our time from one of the country s leading organizers and a co creator of Black Lives Matter This is the story of one woman s lessons through years of bringing people together to create change Most of all it is a new paradigm for change for a new generation of change makers from the mind and heart behind one of the most important movements of our time 20

NON FICTION A Series of Fortunate Events Chance and the Making of the Planet Life and You Roger s STAFF PICK Sean B Carroll Hardcover From acclaimed writer and biologist Sean B Carroll a rollicking awe inspiring story of the surprising power of chance in our lives and the world Why is the world the way it is How did we get here Does everything happen for a reason or are some things left to chance A Series of Fortunate Events is an irresistibly entertaining and thought provoking account of one of the most important but least appreciated facts of life America and Iran A History 1720 to the Present John Ghazvinian Hardcover An important urgently needed book a hugely ambitious illuminating portrait of the twocenturies long entwined histories of Iran and America and the first book to examine in all its aspects the rich and fraught relations between these two powers once allies now adversaries By an admired historian and the author of Untapped The Scramble for Africa s Oil He would do Graham Greene proud Kirkus Reviews A Brotherhood Betrayed The Man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder Inc Michael Cannell Hardcover The riveting true story of the rise and fall of Murder Inc and the executioner turned informant whose mysterious death became a turning point in Mob history Michael Cannell s A Brotherhood Betrayed traces the history of Murder Inc through one man s rise from street punk to murder chieftain to stool pigeon ending with his fateful death on a Coney Island rooftop It resurrects a time when crime became organized crime a world of money and power depravity and corruption street corner ambushes and elaborately choreographed hits This is the story of the one man who tipped the balance Chicago s Great Fire The Destruction and Resurrection of an Iconic American City Carl Smith Hardcover 21 Between October 8 10 1871 much of the city of Chicago was destroyed by one of the most legendary urban fires in history No carefully researched popular history of the Great Chicago Fire has been written until now despite it being one of the most cataclysmic disasters in US history Building the story around memorable characters including the likes of General Philip Sheridan and Robert Todd Lincoln eminent Chicago historian Carl Smith chronicles the city s rapid growth and place in America s post Civil War expansion

NON FICTION Counting How We Use Numbers to Decide What Matters Deborah Stone Hardcover What do people do when they count What do numbers really mean We all know that people can lie with statistics but in this groundbreaking work eminent political scientist Deborah Stone uncovers a much deeper problem With help from Dr Seuss and Cookie Monster she explains why numbers can t be objective in order to count one must first decide what counts Every number is the ending to a story built on cultural assumptions social conventions and personal judgments Suffused with moral reflection and ending with a powerful epilogue on COVID 19 s dizzying statistics Counting will forever change our relationship with numbers The Language of Thieves My Family s Obsession with a Secret Code the Nazis Tried to Eliminate Martin Puchner Hardcover Centuries ago in middle Europe a coded language appeared scrawled in graffiti and spoken only by people who were wiz in the know This hybrid language dubbed Rotwelsch facilitated survival for people in flight This renegade language unsettled those in power who responded by trying to stamp it out none more vehemently than the Nazis As a boy Martin Puchner learned this secret language from his father and uncle Interweaving family memoir with an adventurous foray into the mysteries of language Puchner finds a language born of migration and survival he discovers a witty and resourceful spirit of tolerance that remains essential in our volatile present The Lonely Century How to Restore Human Connection in a World That s Pulling Apart Noreena Hertz Hardcover From an economist hailed as one of the world s leading thinkers The Observer an eye opening exploration of the most urgent social issue of our time Even before a global pandemic introduced us to terms like social distancing loneliness was well on its way to becoming the defining condition of the twenty first century Offering bold solutions ranging from compassionate AI to innovative models for urban living to new ways of reinvigorating our neighborhoods and reconciling our differences The Lonely Century offers a hopeful and empowering vision for how to heal our fractured communities and restore connection in our lives Red Line The Unraveling of Syria and America s Race to Destroy the Most Dangerous Arsenal in the World Joby Warrick Hardcover From the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Black Flags the thrilling unknown story of America s mission in Syria to find and destroy Syria s chemical weapons and keep them out of the hands of the Islamic State Red Line is a classic Joby Warrick true life thriller a character driven narrative with a cast of heroes and villains including weapons hunters politicians doctors diplomats and spies Drawing on astonishing original reporting Warrick reveals how the United States embarked on a bold adventure to prevent one catastrophe but could not avoid a tragic chain of events that empowered America s enemies 22

A World Beneath the Sands The Golden Age of Egyptology NON FICTION Toby Wilkinson Hardcover From the decipherment of hieroglyphics in 1822 to the discovery of Tutankhamun s tomb by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon a hundred years later the uncovering of Egypt s ancient past took place in an atmosphere of grand adventure and international rivalry In A World Beneath the Sands acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson chronicles the ruthless race between the British French Germans and Americans to lay claim to its mysteries and treasures Travelers and treasure hunters ethnographers and archaeologists whatever their motives whatever their methods a century of adventure and scholarship revealed a lost world buried for centuries beneath the sands American Contagions Epidemics and the Law from Smallpox to COVID 19 Geoffrey s STAFF PICK John Fabian Witt Hardcover The legal history of epidemics shows that throughout American history public health laws have been liberal for some communities and authoritarian for others Epidemics prompt us to make choices about our basic values and our laws and history helps shape our answers to those questions today The Good American The Epic Life of Bob Gersony the U S Government s Greatest Humanitarian Robert D Kaplan Hardcover From the New York Times bestselling author of The Revenge of Geography comes a sweeping yet intimate story of the most influential humanitarian you ve never heard of Bob Gersony who spent four decades in crisis zones around the world For anyone who has stopped believing that one person can make a difference or that government service is still a noble calling or that facts still matter or that the American brand can still hold fast to practical idealism this book is the antidote to those fears A Life on Our Planet My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future Sir David Attenborough Hardcover See the world Then make it better I am 93 I ve had an extraordinary life It s only now that I appreciate how extraordinary As a young man I felt I was out there in the wild experiencing the untouched natural world but it was an illusion The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us barely noticeable from day to day the loss of our planet s wild places its biodiversity We have one final chance to create the perfect home for ourselves and restore the wonderful world we inherited All we need is the will do so

NON FICTION The Fragile Earth Writing from The New Yorker on Climate Change David Remnick Henry Finder Hardcover A collection of the New Yorker s groundbreaking reporting from the front lines of climate change including writing from Bill McKibben Elizabeth Kolbert Ian Frazier Kathryn Schulz and more The Fragile Earth tells the story of climate change its past present and future taking readers from Greenland to the Great Plains and into both laboratories and rain forests It features some of the best writing on global warming from the last three decades The result in its range depth and passion promises to bring light and sometimes heat to the great emergency of our age The Knowledge Machine How Irrationality Created Modern Science Michael Strevens Roger s STAFF PICK Hardcover A paradigm shifting work The Knowledge Machine revolutionizes our understanding of the origins and structure of science Why is science so powerful Why did it take so long two thousand years after the invention of philosophy and mathematics for the human race to start using science to learn the secrets of the universe A leading philosopher of science Michael Strevens answers these challenging questions showing how science came about only once thinkers stumbled upon the astonishing idea that scientific breakthroughs could be accomplished by breaking the rules of logical argument Science and Cooking Physics Meets Food From Homemade to Haute Cuisine Michael Brenner Pia S rensen David Weitz Hardcover The spectacular culinary creations of modern cuisine are the stuff of countless articles and social media feeds But to a scientist they are also perfect pedagogical explorations into the basic scientific principles of cooking In Science and Cooking Harvard professors Michael Brenner Pia S rensen and David Weitz bring the classroom to your kitchen to teach the physics and chemistry underlying every recipe Why do we knead bread What determines the temperature at which we cook a steak or the amount of time our chocolate chip cookies spend in the oven Science and Cooking answers these questions and more through hands on experiments and recipes all beautifully illustrated in full color The School of Life Guide to Modern Manners How to Navigate the Dilemmas of Social Life The School of Life Edited by Alain Botton Hardcover Life is full of minor but acute dilemmas wishing to end a boring conversation without causing offence forgetting a name when introducing friends running into an ex on a first date with a new partner Though they might seem insignificant such dilemmas illustrate some of the greatest themes in social existence how to pursue our own happiness while honoring the sensitivities of others how to convey goodwill with sincerity and how to be kind without being supine or sentimental This book puts good manners back at the center of our lives Through twenty case studies Modern Manners provides a new philosophy of graceful conduct

COOKBOOKS Modern Comfort Food A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook Ina Garten Hardcover In Modern Comfort Food Ina Garten shares 85 new recipes that will feed your deepest cravings Many of these dishes are inspired by childhood favorites but with the volume turned way up Home cooks can always count on Ina s dependable easy to follow instructions with lots of side notes for cooking and entertaining it s like having Ina right there beside you helping you all the way From cocktails to dessert from special weekend breakfasts to quick weeknight dinners you ll find yourself making these cozy and delicious recipes over and over again Dessert Person Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence Claire Saffitz Hardcover In her first cookbook Bon App tit and YouTube star of the show Gourmet Makes offers wisdom problem solving strategies and more than 100 meticulously tested creative and inspiring recipes There are no just cooks out there only bakers who haven t yet been converted I am a dessert person and we are all dessert people Claire Saffitz The Rise Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food Marcus Samuelsson Osayi Endolyn Yewande Komolafe Hardcover This cookbook from chef bestselling author and TV star Marcus Samuelsson celebrates contemporary Black cooking in 150 extraordinarily delicious recipes Black cooks and creators have led American culture forward with indelible contributions of artistry and ingenuity from the start but Black authorship has been consistently erased from the story of American food Now in The Rise chef Marcus Samuelsson gathers together an unforgettable feast of food culture and history to highlight the diverse deliciousness of Black cooking today Cook with Me 150 Recipes for the Home Cook Alex Guarnaschelli Hardcover Through 150 decadent and smart recipes the Food Network icon explores how the relationships with her family have shaped her as a chef and home cook Growing up with a legendary cookbook editor mother and a food obsessed father Alex Guarnaschelli has always loved to cook Now with a daughter of her own food and cooking mean even more to Alex they are a way for her to share memories These recipes reflect the power that food has to bring people together and is a testament to the importance of sustaining traditions and creating new ones 25

COOKBOOKS The Essential New York Times Cookbook The Recipes of Record Taunda s STAFF PICK Amanda Hesser Hardcover Ten years after the phenomenal success of her once in a generation cookbook former New York Times food editor Amanda Hesser returns with an updated edition for a new wave of home cooks Hesser has tested and adapted each of the recipes and she highlights her go to favorites with wit and warmth As Saveur declared this is a tremendously appealing collection of recipes that tells the story of American cooking The Man Who Ate Too Much The Life of James Beard Geoffrey s STAFF PICK John Birdsall Hardcover In the first portrait of James Beard in twenty five years John Birdsall accomplishes what no prior telling of Beard s life and work has done He looks beyond the public image of the Dean of American Cookery to give voice to the gourmet s complex queer life and in the process illuminates the history of American food in the twentieth century At a time when stuffy French restaurants and soulless Continental cuisine prevailed Beard invented something strange and new the notion of an American cuisine Ottolenghi Flavor A Cookbook Yotam Ottolenghi Ixta Belfrage Hardcover The New York Times bestselling author of Plenty teams up with Ottolenghi Test Kitchen s Ixta Belfrage to reveal how flavor is created and amplified through 100 innovative super delicious plant based recipes Chock full of low effort high impact dishes that pack a punch and standout meals for the relaxed cook Ottolenghi Flavor is a revolutionary approach to vegetable cooking This Will Make It Taste Good A New Path to Simple Cooking Vivian Howard Hardcover From caramelized onions to fruit preserves make home cooking quick and easy with ten simple kitchen heroes in these 125 recipes from the New York Times bestselling and award winning author of Deep Run Roots I wrote this book to inspire you and I promise it will change the way you cook the way you think about what s in your fridge the way you see yourself in an apron Because food is the language Vivian uses to talk about her life that s what these recipes do next to stories that offer a glimpse at the people challenges and lessons learned that stock the pantry of her life 26

BABY BOOKS Now You See Me Now You Don t Patricia Hegarty Board Book Chameleon is sneaky and likes to use his camouflage powers to play tricks on the other jungle animals But when he meets someone who beats him at his own game will Chameleon learn to change his ways Little Owl s Snow Divya Srinivasan Board Book Little Owl experiences his first snow and first winter in this perfect follow up to Little Owl s Night and Little Owl s Day now in board book Winter s almost here says Little Owl as he observes leaves falling animal friends hibernating and a chill from his feathers to his feet And just as he and his friend Racoon are watching their breath make fog in the cold air it happens Snow Follow Your Dreams Little One Vashti Harrison Lisa s STAFF PICK Board Book Vashti Harrison shines a bold joyous light on black men through history in this board book edition of Little Legends Exceptional Men in Black History This beautifully illustrated board book highlights true stories of black men in history The exceptional men featured include artist Aaron Douglas civil rights leader John Lewis dancer Alvin Ailey lawman Bass Reeves tennis champion Arthur Ashe and writer James Baldwin The legends in this book span centuries and continents but what they have in common is that each one has blazed a trail for generations to come Grumpy Monkey s Little Book of Grumpiness Suzanne Lang Board Book Jim Panzee describes the universal feeling of grumpiness to the youngest reader In this call and response board book Jim Panzee decides that all he really needs is a friend 27

BABY BOOKS Hello World Planet Earth Jill McDonald Board Book The latest in the hit Hello World board book series teaches toddlers all about our amazing planet Earth with easy to understand facts about countries continents oceans landforms habitats and Earth s place in the solar system Hello World is a series designed to introduce first nonfiction concepts to babies and toddlers Told in clear and easy terms Light from the sun makes the moon shine and featuring bright cheerful illustrations Hello World makes learning fun for young children The Whales on the Bus Katrina Charman Board Book Set to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus this zany adventure provides endless fun for fans of planes trains cars buses and animals of all kinds The whales on the bus ride round the town Round the town round the town The whales on the bus ride round the town All day long Join in the fun with a host of colorful animals as they ride soar whizz and zoom on a whole range of exciting vehicles from tigers on gliders to cranes on trains and ducks on trucks Little Happy Dreamer Peter H Reynolds Lisa s STAFF PICK Board Book While the world tells us to sit still to follow the rules and to color inside the lines Little Happy Dreamer celebrates all those moments in between when the mind and spirit soar and we are free to become our own true dreamer maximus In Peter Reynolds s signature voice and style this empowering board book reminds children of how much their dreams matter and while life will have ups and downs he enlists readers to stay true to who they are to tap into their most creative inner selves and to never ever forget to dream big Little Joy Nadine Brun Cosme Board Book In this adorable story full of cheer Little One feels oh so happy that poof She becomes Little Joy When Little One wakes up She opens one eye and then the other As the sun shines on her cheek Little One s heart beats really fast In this sweet story all about joy Little Joy discovers what makes her happy A perfect first book of feelings this book highlights the sensation of being happy and bright 28

PICTURE BOOKS Cozy Jan Brett Hardcover Cozy is the softest musk ox in Alaska with the warmest fur you ever did feel When a storm hits while he s separated from his family he starts to feel lonely but not for long As the snow piles up animals start to notice just how warm and cozy Cozy really is One mama lemming has a bright idea maybe the best place to spend the winter is under Cozy s fur Music Is Stephen T Johnson Hardcover Caldecott Honor winner and two time New York Times best illustrator of the year author and illustrator Stephen T Johnson s lyrical journey of sounds styles and rhythms culminate in this highly imaginative and beautifully orchestrated celebration of music The Bear and the Moon Matthew Burgess Illustrated by Catia Chien Hardcover The Bear and the Moon is a picture book that follows what happens when the gift of a balloon floats into Bear s life The two companions embark on a journey a magical tale that encompasses the joys of friendship and discovery This is a gentle book filled with humor while tackling complex topics like the transcendence of loss and forgiveness The Bookstore Cat Cylin Busby Illustrated by Charles Santoso Geoffrey s STAFF PICK 29 Hardcover An irresistible and engaging picture book perfect for story time and for cat and bookstore lovers alike The bookstore cat is an adorable bossy cuddly cat He is everything from intelligent and loyal to naughty and vocal But most of all the bookstore cat is a well loved and well read kitty Follow his funny antics from A to Z through a day in his bustling book filled shop The Bookstore Cat is based on a Victorian parlor game The Minister s Cat in which players try to think of adjectives to describe the cat in alphabetical order

PICTURE BOOKS Bye Penguin Seou Lee Hardcover You d think that a penguin stranded on an ever smaller block of ice on a trip around the world wouldn t be so FUN But it is There s our fearless penguin passing the gondolas of Venice there s penguin floating by the Sydney Opera House From the Aurora Borealis to a hilarious encounter with a surfer in Hawaii this is a wordless journey that truly FROLICKS In fact the adventures are so amusing that most readers will barely register the nod to global warming until it s slipped right in on the breath of a laugh How Do Dinosaurs Show Good Manners Jane Yolen Mark Teague Lisa s STAFF PICK Hardcover Join these troublesome dinosaurs as their best manners are put to task in this infectious readaloud a delightful new addition to Jane Yolen and Mark Teague s beloved award winning series Watch these dinosaur children s larger than life antics as they navigate sharing and showing gratitude with their human family and friends Being courteous is an important lesson in children s lives While learning good manners is full of its own struggles and quandaries the payoff of hearing please and thank you is worth it Matilda Roald Dahl Illustrated by Sarah Walsh Hardcover Matilda is a sweet exceptional young girl but her parents think she s just a nuisance She expects school to be different but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull a kidhating terror of a headmistress When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back It will take superhuman genius to give Miss Trunchbull what she deserves and Matilda may be just the one to do it All Because You Matter Tami Charles Illustrated by Bryan Collier Hardcover A lyrical heart lifting love letter to black and brown children everywhere reminding them how much they matter that they have always mattered and they always will from powerhouse rising star author Tami Charles and esteemed award winning illustrator Bryan Collier A gem for every household Kirkus Reviews starred review 30

PICTURE BOOKS Will You Be My Friend Geoffrey s STAFF PICK Sam McBratney Illustrated by Anita Jeram Hardcover Little Nutbrown Hare is out exploring on his own Off he hops along the path and through the grass until he reaches Cloudy Mountain where something extraordinary happens he discovers a new friend Now the fun can really begin Twenty five years after we met the Nutbrown Hares this enchanting new tale about friendship is bound to capture the hearts of Guess How Much I Love You fans and everyone else the world over Eric Shaun Tan Hardcover When a foreign exchange student comes to live with a typical suburban family he brings with him a boundless sense of curiosity and a stream of unexpected questions which his hosts are never quite sure how to answer But when the moment comes to say good bye a beautiful surprise awaits and a gift the family will never forget The Alphabet s Alphabet Chris Harris Illustrated by Dan Santat Hardcover Here s a totally twisted take on the alphabet that invites readers to look at it in a whole new way An A is an H that just won t stand up right a B is a D with its belt on too tight and a Z is an L in a tug of war fight Twenty six letters unique from each other and yet every letter looks just like one another Kind of like one big family Attack of the Underwear Dragon Scott Rothman Illustrated by Pete Oswald Hardcover Brave knights fire breathing dragons and underwear every kid s favorite things in one book illustrated by 1 New York Times bestselling artist Pete Oswald Sir Percival is a great knight in every way except for one thing He is terrified that an Underwear Dragon will come and destroy the kingdom But when the unthinkable happens Cole is the only knight left standing and just an assistant knight at that Cole must use all of his newly acquired skills to battle the fearsome dragon and avoid a catastrophe Luckily an unfortunate underwear mishap changes everything and Cole triumphs in this hilarious and triumphant tale 31

PICTURE BOOKS Lisa s Construction Site Mission Demolition STAFF PICK Sherri Duskey Rinker Illustrated by AG Ford Hardcover In Construction Site Mission Demolition the construction team we all know and love has an exciting job to do smashing crushing sorting hauling Ultimately this picture book is about working together breaking things down and cleaning it all up at the end of the day Demolition is tough work but these powerful vehicles are up to the task and once the job is done there will be a freshly cleared and tidy construction site ready for building something new The Blue Table Chris Raschka Hardcover It s time to celebrate family community generosity and giving Two time Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka s stunning picture book is the perfect pick to share whenever family and friends gather together to celebrate and give thanks no matter the occasion Spend the day around the heart of a home the blue table A shopping list is written food is prepared and the table is set Guests arrive thanks are given and a meal is shared What then It s time to pitch in and clean up of course The Boy and the Gorilla Jackie Azua Kramer Illustrated by Cindy Derby Hardcover This profoundly moving tale about a grieving boy and an imaginary gorilla makes real the power of talking about loss On the day of his mother s funeral a young boy conjures the very visitor he needs to see a gorilla Wise and gentle the gorilla stays on to answer the heart heavy questions the boy hesitates to ask his father Where did his mother go Will she come back home Yet with the gorilla s friendship the boy slowly begins to discover moments of comfort Most of all the gorilla knows that it helps to simply talk about the loss especially with those who share your grief and who may feel alone too Click Clack Good Night A Click Clack Book Doreen Cronin Illustrated by Betsy Lewin Hardcover A hilarious tale about Duck who can t just can t fall asleep It s bedtime on the farm The cows sheep and chickens are all tucked in and snoozing away Except for Duck So Farmer Brown sings him a song reads him a book turns on the white noise machine and even debates the day s top stories But Duck just won t tuck Can Farmer Brown stay awake long enough to see Duck off to dreamland or is a good night s sleep just a dream 32

MIDDLE READER The Deep End Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 15 Jeff Kinney Hardcover In The Deep End book 15 of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series from 1 international bestselling author Jeff Kinney Greg Heffley and his family hit the road for a cross country camping trip ready for the adventure of a lifetime But things take an unexpected turn and they find themselves stranded at an RV park that s not exactly a summertime paradise When the skies open up and the water starts to rise the Heffleys wonder if they can save their vacation or if they re already in too deep The Tower of Nero Trials of Apollo Book Five Rick Riordan Hardcover Will the Greek god Apollo cast down to earth in the pathetic mortal form of a teenager named Lester Papadopoulos finally regain his place on Mount Olympus Lester s demigod friends at Camp Jupiter just helped him survive attacks from bloodthirsty ghouls an evil Roman king and his army of the undead and the lethal emperors Caligula and Commodus Now the former god and his demigod master Meg must follow a prophecy uncovered by Ella the harpy Lester s final challenge will be at the Tower of Nero back in New York A Tale of Witchcraft A Tale of Magic 2 Chris Colfer Hardcover Brystal and her friends have saved the world from the evil Snow Queen and secured worldwide acceptance for the magical community But in this magical series their journey is just beginning When a mysterious new witch arrives at the academy the celebrations are cut short As the witch begins recruiting faeries into her rival school of witchcraft it becomes clear she has dark intentions And soon Brystal s friend Lucy becomes embroiled in an ominous plot against mankind Spy School Revolution Stuart Gibbs Hardcover Superspy middle schooler Ben Ripley faces the Croatoan a new evil organization that s so mysterious the only proof it exists is from the American Revolution in this latest addition to the New York Times bestselling Spy School series 33

MIDDLE READER Dork Diaries 15 Tales from NotSo Posh Paris Adventure Rachel Ren e Russell Hardcover Nikki Maxwell deals with the trials and triumphs of middle school in this fifteenth installment of the 1 New York Times bestselling Dork Diaries series Will Nikki Maxwell and her friends make it to Paris in this next installment A Thousand Questions Saadia Faruqi Hardcover Set against the backdrop of Karachi Pakistan Saadia Faruqi s tender and honest middle grade novel tells the story of two girls navigating a summer of change and family upheaval with kind hearts big dreams and all the right questions This relatable and empathetic story about two friends coming to understand each other will resonate with readers who loved Other Words for Home and Front Desk Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone MinaLima Edition Harry Potter Book 1 J K Rowling Illustrated by Minalima Design Hardcover A dazzling new edition of J K Rowling s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone fully illustrated in brilliant color and featuring exclusive interactive paper craft elements Experience the story as never before J K Rowling s complete and unabridged text is accompanied by full color illustrations on nearly every page and eight exclusive interactive paper craft elements Readers will open Harry s Hogwarts letter reveal the magical entryway to Diagon Alley make a sumptuous feast appear in the Great Hall and more Homerooms and Hall Passes Heroes Level Up Tom O Donnell Hardcover The laugh out loud adventure series Homerooms and Hall Passes Months after saving suburbia from destruction our heroes are back to their old lives of dungeon delving and magical quests All except the wizard Albiorix who has given up adventuring and uses his time trying unsuccessfully to create his own board game When the party finds their old friend June Westray s smartphone for sale in a Br andal rian bazaar however they fear the Realm of Suburbia is under threat Thus the five young adventurers must travel back into Homerooms Hall Passes a role playing game where they assume the characters of average American kids This time they re at Level 9 and will face a whole new set of challenges their freshman year of high school 34

MIDDLE READER The Boys in the Back Row Mike Jung Hardcover Best friends Matt and Eric are hatching a plan for one big final adventure together before Eric moves away during the marching band competition at a Giant Amusement Park they will sneak away to a nearby comics convention and meet their idol a famous comic creator Without cell phones Or transportation Or permission Of course their final adventure together is more than just that really it s a way for the boys to celebrate their friendship and their honest love and support for one another The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel Sheela Chari Hardcover Mars Patel s friend Aurora has disappeared His teachers are clueless His mom is stressed out about her jobs But Mars refuses to give up after all his own dad disappeared when Mars was a toddler before he and Ma moved to Puget Sound from India Luckily Mars has a group of loyal friends eager to help smart Toothpick strong and stylish JP and maybe telepathic Caddie The clues seem to point toward eccentric tech genius and Mars s hero Oliver Pruitt whose popular podcast now seems to be commenting on their quest But when the friends investigate Pruitt s mysterious elite school nothing is as it seems and anyone could be deceiving them Closer to Nowhere Ellen Hopkins Peggy s STAFF PICK Hardcover For the most part Hannah s life is just how she wants it She has two supportive parents she s popular at school and she s been killing it at gymnastics But when her cousin Cal moves in with her family everything changes Cal tells half truths and tall tales pranks Hannah constantly and seems to be the reason her parents are fighting more and more Nothing is how it used to be She knows that Cal went through a lot after his mom died and she is trying to be patient but most days Hannah just wishes Cal never moved in Told in verse from the alternating perspectives of Hannah and Cal this is a story of two cousins who are more alike than they realize and the family they both want to save Everything Comes Next Collected and New Poems Naomi Shihab Nye Hardcover Beloved and acclaimed poet Naomi Shihab Nye is the current Young People s Poet Laureate serving until August 2021 This celebratory book collects in one volume her most popular and accessible poems from the past forty years 35

MIDDLE READER The Fowl Twins Deny All Charges The Fowl Twins Book 2 Eoin Colfer Hardcover A spinoff of the blockbuster Artemis Fowl series starts with a bang literally Artemis s little brothers Myles and Beckett borrow the Fowl jet without permission and it ends up as a fireball over Florida Who was tracking the Fowl jet Why would someone want to blow them out of the sky What is the bigger picture These questions must infuriate someone because Myles is abducted and spirited away from his twin Beckett and Lazuli must collaborate to find Myles and rescue him Their chase will take them across continents deep underground and into subacquatic super villain lairs Will Beckett be able to come up with a genius plan without a genius on hand Flooded Requiem for Johnstown Ann E Burg Hardcover Johnstown Pennsylvania in 1889 was a lively working class factory city Above the soot soaked streets an elite fishing and hunting club built on a pristine man made lake drew America s wealthiest business barons Though repeatedly urged to fix the deteriorating dam that held the lake the club members disregarded the warnings And when heavy rains came the dam collapsed and plunged the city into chaos On that fateful day six children found themselves caught in the wreckage The chorus of their voices all inspired by real people create a gripping portrait of loss and healing Cinders and Sparrows Stefan Bachmann Hardcover A suspenseful tale of witches family and magic from internationally bestselling author Stefan Bachmann When a twelve year old orphan unexpectedly becomes the mistress of a seemingly abandoned castle she is thrust into a mysterious plot involving murderous spells false identity and a magical battle of wills between the living and the dead Awesome Man They Mystery Intruder Peggy s STAFF PICK Michael Chabon Illustrated by Jake Parker Hardcover Awesome Man our favorite superhero is back and in this fantastic sequel from New York Times bestselling author Michael Chabon he must prepare for his greatest threat yet Awesome Man s secret identity has stayed safe and he s still the coolest superhero around He loves protecting the people of Awesome City from evildoers like the giant Plutonian octolizard with his trusty sidekick Moskowitz But there have been reports that a new hero is coming to town soon What if the people of Awesome City no longer need Awesome Man 36

NON FICTION FOR KIDS Geoffrey s STAFF PICK Lost in the Imagination A Journey Through Nine Worlds in Nine Nights Hiawyn Oram Illustrated David Wyatt Hardcover Enter the elaborate found notebooks of the formerly fact bound professor Dawn Gable and follow her on nine nightly journeys to extraordinary worlds From King Arthur s Round Table at Camelot to the majestic hall of slain heroes in Asgard visit marvelous lands from myth legend and fairy tale Intricate vistas and diagrams usher readers into a city of intelligent machines the ancient African city of Kor the miniature world of Lilliput the flying island of Laputa and more A mesmerizing gift for anyone who believes in the transformative power of stories this is a book that readers will pore over again and again Dinosaurs Are Not Extinct Real Facts About Real Dinosaurs Drew Sheneman Peggy s Hardcover STAFF PICK Drew Sheneman brings budding paleontologists the truth about dinosaurs in this informative and hilarious nonfiction picture book A long long time ago planet Earth was full of dinosaurs Until an asteroid appeared in the sky When it hit most of the plants and animals on Earth went extinct It was the end of the dinosaurs Or was it Actually the latest research shows that the dinosaurs didn t all go extinct In fact you ve probably seen dinosaurs at the park eaten dinosaurs for dinner and maybe even cleaned dinosaur poop off your family s car Lego Minifigure a Visual History With Exclusive Lego Spaceman Minifigure Gregory Farshtey Daniel Lipowitz Simon Hugo Hardcover Enter the world of minifigures with this fully updated edition The first minifigure was created in 1978 and today the entire minifigure population could circle the globe more than five times Starring more than 2 000 of the most popular and rarest minifigures from the LEGO R Minifigure Series From astronauts and vampires to Super Heroes and movie characters feast your eyes on the most awesome minifigures of every decade Features an exclusive orange spaceman Build This Book A Book and Maker Space All in One David Eckold Hardcover An exciting activity book with pages that can be folded to actually transform into 8 amazing machines Perfect for curious young makers and scientists and anyone learning at home Learn key engineering principles with this truly fun and one of a kind craftable book whose pages turn into experiments Makers budding scientists and engineers and students learning at home can transform the cover and pages into a hands on workshop for learning about compression tension the mechanics of levers and pulleys creating robotic actions and more No extra shopping necessary 37

NON FICTION FOR KIDS Guinness World Records 2021 Guinness World Records Hardcover All aboard Guinness World Records 2021 for a life changing journey of discovery This year we re devoting a chapter to the history of exploration starting with the story of the very first circumnavigation along with our History of Adventure timeline featuring a host of remarkable achievements The fully revised and updated best seller is packed with thousands of incredible new feats across the widest spectrum of topics providing a whistle stop tour of our superlative universe It s a big world out there Let Guinness World Records 2021 be your guide Anatomicum Welcome to the Museum Peggy s Jennifer Z Paxton Illustrated Katy Wiedemann STAFF PICK Hardcover Welcome to a museum that is always open to explore Inside these pages you ll get a peek at the workings of the major systems of the human body from the minute muscles used to convey emotion to precise workings of the human brain With stunning artwork by Katy Wiedemann and expert text by Dr Jennifer Z Paxton this beautiful book makes anatomical knowledge both accessible and beautiful The Book of Mythical Beasts and Magical Creatures Stephen Krensky Hardcover Enter the enchanting world of mythical creatures and explore the history behind them in this beautifully illustrated compendium for kids aged 7 to 9 Say hello to Bigfoot in the forests of North America and learn about the Native American traditions that inspired its story Voyage to Japan to meet kitsune supernatural nine tailed foxes that can turn into humans And jump onboard an ancient storm battered ship to learn why mermaids were the last thing a sailor wanted to see Perfect for fans of Harry Potter and other fantasy tales this is the only kids guide to magical creatures that tells you the history behind the mythology Be a Super Awesome Artist 20 Art Challenges Inspired by the Masters Henry Carroll Hardcover Become a super awesome artist with this fantastic new book Using real examples of art for inspiration this great book features 20 exciting art challenges to help you create your own masterpieces Channel the artistic genius within and you ll be painting like Pollock doodling like Duchamp and creating like Kahlo in no time 38

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Peggy s STAFF PICK Long Way Down Jason Reynolds Illustrated by Danica Novgorodoff Hardcover Jason Reynolds s Newbery Honor Printz Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor winning 1 New York Times bestselling novel Long Way Down is now a gripping galvanizing graphic novel with haunting artwork by Danica Novgorodoff As Will fifteen sets out to avenge his brother Shawn s fatal shooting seven ghosts who knew Shawn board the elevator and reveal truths Will needs to know Breathless Geoffrey s STAFF PICK Jennifer Niven Hardcover From Jennifer Niven the 1 New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places comes an unforgettable new novel about a sensitive girl ready to live her bravest life sex heartbreak family dramas and all Compulsively readable and impossible to forget Jennifer Niven s luminous new novel is an insightful portrait of a young woman determined to write her own next chapter Everything I Thought I Knew Shannon Takaoka Hardcover Seventeen year old Chloe had a plan work hard get good grades and attend a top tier college But after she collapses during cross country practice and is told that she needs a new heart all her careful preparations are laid to waste Eight months after her transplant everything is different Stuck in summer school with the underachievers all she wants to do now is grab her surfboard and hit the waves which is strange because she wasn t interested in surfing before her transplant As she searches for answers what she learns will lead her to question everything she thought she knew about life death love identity and the true nature of reality Kingdom of the Wicked Kerri Maniscalco Hardcover Two sisters One brutal murder A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself And an intoxicating romance Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe witches who live secretly among humans avoiding notice and persecution One night Vittoria misses dinner service at the family s renowned Sicilian restaurant Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin desecrated beyond belief Devastated Emilia sets out to find her sister s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost even if it means using dark magic that s been long forbidden 39

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Claire s STAFF PICK His Dark Materials Serpentine Philip Pullman Illustrated by Tom Duxbury Hardcover This companion to His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust offers a tantalizing new glimpse of Lyra and her d mon Pantalaimon The world changing events of The Amber Spyglass are behind them and Lyra and Pan find themselves utterly changed as well In Serpentine they journey to the far North once more hoping to ask the Consul of Witches a most urgent question Crownchasers Rebecca Coffindaffer Hardcover A deadly race across 1 001 planets will determine more than just the fate of the empire This explosive first book in a duology jam packed with tension and thrills is perfect for fans of The Hunger Games Aurora Rising and Three Dark Crowns Alyssa Farshot has spent her whole life trying to outrun her family legacy even leaving behind the Kingship and her uncle the emperor for a life of exploring But when her dying uncle announces a crownchase a search for the royal seal hidden in the empire that will determine the next ruler Alyssa is thrust into her greatest most dangerous adventure yet Hush Dylan Farrow Hardcover Graceling meets Red Queen in this exciting debut novel by an electrifying new voice Hush has all the trappings of a great fantasy a curse a labyrinthine castle many secrets and powerful magic At the center of it all a girl unwilling to allow her world to be twisted by lies when she knows the truth A truly gripping read Emily A Duncan New York Times bestselling author of Wicked Saints The Mirror Broken Wish Julie C Dao Hardcover Sixteen year old Elva has a secret She has visions and strange powers that she will do anything to hide She knows the warnings about what happens to witches in their small village of Hanau She s heard the terrible things people say about the Witch of the North Woods and the malicious hunts that follow But when Elva accidentally witnesses a devastating vision of the future she decides she has to do everything she can to prevent it 40

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Skyhunter Marie Lu Hardcover 1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu is back with an adrenaline laced novel about the lengths one warrior will go to fight for freedom and those she loves Talin is a Striker a member of an elite fighting force that stands as the last defense for the only free nation in the world Mara A refugee Talin knows firsthand the horrors of the Federation a world dominating war machine responsible for destroying nation after nation with its terrifying army of mutant beasts known only as Ghosts But when a mysterious prisoner is brought from the front to Mara s capital Talin senses there s more to him than meets the eye Is he a spy from the Federation What secrets is he hiding Only one thing is clear Talin is ready to fight to the death alongside her fellow Strikers for the only homeland she has left with or without the boy who might just be the weapon to save or destroy them all The Code for Love and Heartbreak Jillian Cantor Hardcover When math genius Emma and her coding club co president George are tasked with brainstorming a new project The Code for Love is born George disapproves of Emma s idea of creating a matchmaking app accusing her of meddling in people s lives But all the happy new couples at school are proof that the app works At least at first Emma s code is flawless So why is it that perfectly matched couples start breaking up the wrong people keep falling for each other and Emma s own feelings defy any algorithm Disclose Claire s Joelle Charbonneau STAFF PICK Hardcover Meri Buckley has lost everything She lost her mother to a fight much bigger than herself Her father to grief fear and denial And the truth to an overbearing government that insists that censorship and secrecy is the only path to peace But though Meri and her band of truth seeking Stewards did lose the first battle in their quest to enlighten the public they have not yet lost the war Meri can start the revolution she seeks if the powerful figures who profit from the status quo don t find her and kill her first Peacemaker Joseph Bruchac Hardcover A twelve year old Iroquois boy rethinks his calling after witnessing the arrival of a mystical figure with a message of peace in this historical novel based on the creation of the Iroquois Confederacy 41

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Poisoned Claire s STAFF PICK Jennifer Donnelly Hardcover From Jennifer Donnelly author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Stepsister comes a fairytale retelling that ll forever change the way you think about strength power and the real meaning of happily ever after The gorgeous prose and the fairy tale themes have obvious appeal but the real strengths here are the depth of character across the board the examination of the cost of beauty in a world that reveres it and Isabelle herself a shattered but not unreedemable girl with a warrior s heart Booklist starred review Rebel Sisters Tochi Onyebuchi Hardcover In the epic action packed sequel to the brilliant Booklist starred review novel War Girls the battles are over but the fight for justice has just begun Lightbringer Empirium Trilogy 3 Claire Legrand Hardcover The incredible conclusion to the Empirium Trilogy that started with the instant New York Times bestsellers Furyborn and Kingsbane This series is perfect for those looking for books for teen girls and is also one of the best fantasy series for adults and teens Two queens separated by a thousand years must face their ultimate destinies The Lives of Saints Leigh Bardugo Illustrated by Daniel J Zollinger Hardcover Enter the world of the Grishaverse and Shadow and Bone soon to be a Netflix original series Dive into the epic world of international bestselling author Leigh Bardugo with this beautifully illustrated replica of The Lives of Saints the Istorii Sankt ya featuring tales of saints drawn from the beloved novels and beyond Out of the pages of the Shadow and Bone trilogy from the hands of Alina Starkov to yours the Istorii Sankt ya is a magical keepsake from the Grishaverse 42

VIEW FROM OUR SHELVES A Publication