A potluck dish of mystery-murder served for Thanksgiving

November 20, 2019 | kasarak

Thanksgiving is around the corner and with it comes a season of family togetherness, warmth, joy, delicious foods, and (according to the titles below) maybe some murder. 

::cue dramatic music::

Ideally, your family time next week will include mountains of mashed potatoes versus mountains of motives, but look below for books that include both.

The angels' share by 1953- Ellen Crosby

Ellen Crosby pours up another corking mystery with The Angels' Share, an intriguing blend of secret societies, Prohibition bootleg wine, and potentially scandalous documents hidden by the Founding Fathers, all of which yield a vintage murder. When Lucie Montgomery attends a Thanksgiving weekend party for friends and neighbors at Hawthorne Castle, an honest-to-goodness castle owned by the Avery family, the last great newspaper dynasty in America and owner of the Washington Tribune, she doesn't expect the festive occasion to end in death. During the party, Prescott Avery, the 95-year old family patriarch, invites Lucie to his fabulous wine cellar where he offers to pay any price for a cache of 200-year-old Madeira that her great-great-uncle, a Prohibition bootlegger, discovered hidden in the US Capitol in the 1920s. Lucie knows nothing about the valuable wine, believing her late father, a notorious gambler and spendthrift, probably sold or drank it. By the end of the party Lucie and her fiancé, winemaker Quinn Santori, discover Prescott's body lying in his wine cellar. Is one of the guests a murderer? As Lucie searches for the lost Madeira, which she believes links Prescott's death to a cryptic letter her father owned, she learns about Prescott's affiliation with the Freemasons. More investigating hints at a mysterious vault supposedly containing documents hidden by the Founding Fathers and a possible tie to William Shakespeare. If Lucie finds the long-lost documents, the explosive revelations could change history. But will she uncover a three hundred-year-old secret before a determined killer finds her?

Raspberry danish murder by 1943- Joanne Fluke
Also available in: e-book | audiobook | e-video

Thanksgiving has a way of thawing the frostiest hearts in Lake Eden. But that won't be happening for newlywed Hannah Swensen Barton, not after her husband suddenly disappears. Still, she throws herself into a baking frenzy for the sake of pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving-themed treats while endless holiday orders pour into The Cookie Jar. Hannah even introduces a raspberry Danish pastry to the menu, and P.K., her husband's assistant at KCOW-TV, will be one of the first to sample it. But instead of taking a bite, P.K., who is driving Ross's car and using his desk at work, is murdered. Was someone plotting against P.K. all along or did Ross dodge a deadly dose of sweet revenge?

Secure Printing Has Arrived!

November 20, 2019 | Liborg

You may notice the new ‘Secure color’ and ‘Secure grayscale’ options when printing from a library computer.

Documents sent to these secure print queues will require you to provide a 4-digit security pin.

Your document is then safe from unauthorized printing or viewing by staff and other patrons.

When you are ready to print your work, the 4-digit pin must be re-entered at the print station using the numerical keypad located next to each printer.

There is no additional cost for this feature. Grayscale pages are $.10, and color prints are $.50.

Rick Riordan Presents

November 19, 2019 | agudenburr
Aru Shah and the end of time by Roshani Chokshi
The storm runner by Jennifer Cervantes
Dragon Pearl by 1979- Yoon Ha Lee

Adult Contemporary Book Discussion 2020

November 19, 2019 | sobczakd
City of girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
Also available in: e-book | audiobook | e-audiobook | large print

In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse. There Vivian is introduced to an entire cosmos of unconventional and charismatic characters, from the fun-chasing showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer, and no-nonsense stage manager. But when Vivian makes a personal mistake that results in professional scandal, it turns her new world upside down in ways that it will take her years to fully understand. Ultimately, though, it leads her to a new understanding of the kind of life she craves - and the kind of freedom it takes to pursue it. It will also lead to the love of her life, a love that stands out from all the rest. Now eighty-nine years old and telling her story at last, Vivian recalls how the events of those years altered the course of her life - and the gusto and autonomy with which she approached it. "At some point in a woman's life, she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time," she muses. "After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is."  January 20, 2020

The goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Also available in: e-book | audiobook | e-audiobook | large print

Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by a longing for his mother, he clings to the one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into a wealthy and insular art community. As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love -- and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle. The Goldfinch is a mesmerizing, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention. From the streets of New York to the dark corners of the art underworld, this "soaring masterpiece" examines the devastating impact of grief and the ruthless machinations of fate. February 17, 2020

Carnegie's maid : a novel by Marie Benedict
Also available in: e-book | audiobook | e-audiobook

Clara Kelley is not who they think she is. She's not the experienced Irish maid who was hired to work in one of Pittsburgh's grandest households. She's a poor farmer's daughter with nowhere to go and nothing in her pockets. But the other woman with the same name has vanished, and pretending to be her just might get Clara some money to send back home. If she can keep up the ruse, that is. Serving as a lady's maid in the household of Andrew Carnegie requires skills she doesn't have, answering to an icy mistress who rules her sons and her domain with an iron fist. What Clara does have is a resolve as strong as the steel Pittsburgh is becoming famous for,coupled with an uncanny understanding of business, and Andrew begins to rely on her. But Clara can't let her guard down, not even when Andrew becomes something more than an employer. Revealing her past might ruin her future -- and her family's.With captivating insight and heart, Carnegie's Maid tells the story of one brilliant woman who may have spurred Andrew Carnegie's transformation from ruthless industrialist into the world's first true philanthropist. March 16, 2020

Share a Story: Bat Storytime

November 18, 2019 | strande

 

Did you miss our Bat Storytime this week? Don't worry, here's what you missed, plus a few more suggestions so you can create your own batty storytime at home, complete with songs and stories.

Don't need a full storytime? Borrow a rhyme when you need a short distraction, or check out these materials and spend a few minutes reading together.

From Storytime

Hello, bumblebee bat by Darrin P Lunde

My name is Bumblebee Bat. I may be small, but I'm a great flyer.
Want to know more? Then open this book and fly with Bumblebee Bat into the night.

New Books on the Biography Shelf

November 18, 2019 | SuzyQ

Check out these new titles recently added to the Library's Biography shelves.

The queen next door : Aretha Franklin, an intimate portrait by photographer Linda Solomon
The Beatles from A to Zed : an alphabetical mystery tour by 1944- Peter Asher

Look What's In Large Print: November 2019

November 16, 2019 | kasarak

A number of books written by seasoned authors were released in November. Check out the titles below to see what's new in the Large Print collection.

Cilka's Journey [large print] by Heather Morris
Also available in: print | e-book | audiobook | e-audiobook

Cilka is just sixteen years old when she is taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp in 1942, where the commandant immediately notices how beautiful she is. Forcibly separated from the other women prisoners, Cilka learns quickly that power, even unwillingly taken, equals survival. When the war is over and the camp is liberated, freedom is not granted to Cilka: She is charged as a collaborator for sleeping with the enemy and sent to a Siberian prison camp. But did she really have a choice? And where do the lines of morality lie for Cilka, who was send to Auschwitz when she was still a child? In Siberia, Cilka faces challenges both new and horribly familiar, including the unwanted attention of the guards. But when she meets a kind female doctor, Cilka is taken under her wing and begins to tend to the ill in the camp, struggling to care for them under brutal conditions. Confronting death and terror daily, Cilka discovers a strength she never knew she had. And when she begins to tentatively form bonds and relationships in this harsh, new reality, Cilka finds that despite everything that has happened to her, there is room in her heart for love. From child to woman, from woman to healer, Cilka's journey illuminates the resilience of the human spirit--and the will we have to survive.

The giver of stars [large print] by 1969- Jojo Moyes
Also available in: print | e-book | audiobook | e-audiobook

Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt's new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically. The leader, and soon Alice's greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who's never asked a man's permission for anything. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Horseback Librarians of Kentucky. What happens to them—and to the men they love—becomes a classic drama of loyalty, justice, humanity and passion. Though they face all kinds of dangers, they're committed to their job—bringing books to people who have never had any, sharing the gift of learning that will change their lives. Based on a true story rooted in America's past, The Giver of Stars is unparalleled in its scope. At times funny, at others heartbreaking, this is a richly rewarding novel of women's friendship, of true love, and of what happens when we reach beyond our grasp for the great beyond.

Share a Story--Feeling Brave

November 15, 2019 | Michelle

Storytime was a great place to chat about being brave. Don't worry kids, it can be hard for grown-ups to be brave in the face of something scary, too! Just know that it takes work and family to help you grow brave. Courage rocks!

Stories and Songs from Storytime

Share a Story--Birds

November 15, 2019 | Michelle

Even though the snow is falling fast outside and the temps are very chilly, we can still have fun inside at Storytime learning about birds! Tweet, Tweet, everyone!

Stories and Songs from Storytime

Courage

November 15, 2019 | SuzyQ

“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”
― Mark Twain 

Profiles in courage by 1917-1963 John F. (John Fitzgerald) Kennedy
Profiles in courage for our time

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