Sixkill ( Spenser Novels (Hardcover) )

An intriguing new supporting character and the usual entertaining dialogue lift the 39th and, sadly, last Spenser novel (after Painted Ladies) from MWA Grand Master Parker (19322010). When 20-year-old Dawn Lopata expires of apparent asphyxiation after having sex with megamovie star Jumbo Nelson in his hotel room, Spenser's best friend in the Boston PD, Capt. Martin Quirk, arranges for Nelson's defense attorney to hire Spenser. Though it appears the obnoxious Nelson killed Lopata, Quirk has his doubts. Spenser's initial attempt to get Nelson to talk about what happened ends in mutual threats and insults. While the truth about the fatal night takes a backseat for too long to make the resolution satisfying, the scenes featuring Spenser's longtime love interest, Susan Silverman, are as snappy as ever. Zebulon "Z" Sixkill, the actor's American Indian bodyguard with whom the PI develops an unexpected relationship, would probably have gotten more play in future books had Parker lived to write them. (Check Catalog)

Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention

It is truly a shame that Marable passed away just days before this epic masterwork reached stores. This is a book whose reputation preceded itself and would have required little promotion; allegations by Marable that Malcolm both participated in a homosexual encounter with an early patron and was unfaithful to his wife Betty had already raised the ire of two of Malcolm's daughters, as well as others in the black community for whom Malcolm X has been raised to near-sainthood over the 40-odd years since his assassination. But neither claim is based on much evidence, and neither takes away from the overall impact of the work. Indeed the towering achievement of this book, which took Marable almost two decades to complete, is his ability to present Malcolm X as a flawed, struggling human being, as much at odds with his government as with himself. Marable deftly follows the same narrative path as did Haley's autobiography, but filling in the gaps and fine-tuning the exaggerations of that best-selling volume. Combing through FBI and NYPD files, gathering Nation of Islam interviews, and fleshing out Malcolm's post-NOI activities abroad, Marable succeeds spectacularly in painting a broader and more complex portrait of a man constantly in search of himself and his place in America. (Check Catalog)

Townie

A powerful, haunting memoir from acclaimed novelist Dubus III (The Garden of Last Days, 2008, etc.).
The author grew up poor in Massachusetts mill towns, the oldest of four children of the celebrated short-story writer Andre Dubus (1936–1999), who abandoned the family in 1968 to pursue a young student. Beautifully written and bursting with life, the book tells the story of a boy struggling to express his "hurt and rage," first through violence aimed at school and barroom bullies and ultimately through the power of words. Weak and shy as he entered his teens, Dubus III lived with his mother and siblings in run-down houses in crime-ridden neighborhoods, where they ate canned food for dinner and considered occasional "mystery" car rides to nowhere special with their mother a big treat. While his mother was at work, young toughs hung out at his house doing drugs. At 16, he began training with weights and grew strong to fight his tormenters, and he became a vicious brawler in a leather jacket and ponytail. Meanwhile, at nearby Bradford College, his father taught, striding across campus in his neatly trimmed beard and Australian cowboy hats. The elder Dubus sent money home and took the children out on Sundays, but otherwise remained out of touch. He eventually went through many young women and three broken marriages. At Bradford, which he entered as a student, Dubus III was known only as his father's son, "such a townie." Although the author stopped expecting anything from his father, he yearned for the connection that finally came years later when he helped care for the elder Dubus after the 1986 car accident that crushed his legs. By then, Dubus III had found a new way to draw on the anger of the "semi-abandoned," turning his punches into sentences. His compassionate memoir abounds with exquisitely rendered scenes of fighting, cheating, drugging, drinking and loving.
A striking, eloquent account of growing up poor and of the making of a writer. (Check Catalog)

The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe

In this remarkable look inside Mugabe's isolated yet restive Zimbabwe, journalist Godwin (When a Crocodile Eats the Sun) and his sister, Georgina, return to their childhood home "to dance on Robert Mugabe's political grave"; that is, to observe firsthand the teetering of Africa's (and the world's) oldest tyrant at the critical moment of the 2008 elections. Although the elections promised an end to Mugabe's nearly 30-year dictatorship, even as the 84-year-old president has clung to power in a campaign of widespread terror. The depiction of the heroic (if "prissy") liberation leader against white-minority rule turned brutal power-monger is at once personal, well-informed, and at times, heart-racing. Godwin and Georgina tour the economically devastated and state-terrorized cities, farms, and diamond mines at considerable personal risk, gathering candid interviews with dispossessed farmers, marginalized elites, and former insiders to cast a light on the workings of Mugabe's dictatorship and psychology, and the "fear factor" crucial to his control. Godwin's skills as a journalist and his personal connection to Zimbabwe combine to create an astonishing piece of reportage marked by spare, stirring description, heartrending action, and smart analysis. (Check Catalog)

The Uncoupling

Wolitzer's new novel, after "The Ten-Year Nap"and "The Position" is another well-written and engrossing tale. And this one is definitely more of a tale than a story. In the town of Stellar Plains, NJ, a new, bohemian drama teacher arrives at the local high school. She selects as the school play "Lysistrata" Aristophanes' comedy in which the women decide to stop having sex with their men to convince them to stop fighting in a war. As the actors rehearse, a cool wind of a spell passes through the women of Stellar Plains. It touches other teachers and students alike. The chill makes the women want to abstain from sex. So what happens when an entire town of women start to push away their men for no apparent reason? Otherwise happy couples break up. The novel flits from English teacher to gym teacher to the lead actress in the play and on and on. It reads and infects like a dreamy fairy tale with beautifully expressive and strangely enticing writing. VERDICTWolitzer again tackles a complicated and provocative subject, female sexuality, with creativity and insight. Her fans and readers of women's fiction that's smart and snappy will want this. (Check Catalog)

Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN

Miller and Shales present the first complete and never-before-revealed history of ESPN--the worldwide leader and the rowdiest frat house in sports TV. Announcers and analysts as well as sports stars share their stories about the network. (Check Catalog)

The Snowman

Internationally acclaimed crime writer Jo Nesbo's antihero police investigator, Harry Hole, is back: in a bone-chilling thriller that will take Hole to the brink of insanity.
Oslo in November. The first snow of the season has fallen. A boy named Jonas wakes in the night to find his mother gone. Out his window, in the cold moonlight, he sees the snowman that inexplicably appeared in the yard earlier in the day. Around its neck is his mother's pink scarf.
Hole suspects a link between a menacing letter he's received and the disappearance of Jonas's mother--and of perhaps a dozen other women, all of whom went missing on the day of a first snowfall. As his investigation deepens, something else emerges: he is becoming a pawn in an increasingly terrifying game whose rules are devised--and constantly revised--by the killer.
Fiercely suspenseful, its characters brilliantly realized, its atmosphere permeated with evil, "The Snowman" is the electrifying work of one of the best crime writers of our time. (Check Catalog)

The Troubled Man

In Mankell's masterful 11th novel featuring Kurt Wallander (and likely the last in this internationally bestselling series, according to Sonny Mehta's note to the reader), the 60-year-old Swedish detective unofficially pursues a baffling case that's part mystery, part spy thriller. At the 75th birthday party for Håkan von Enke (the "troubled man" of the title), von Enke, a retired Swedish naval commander, tells Wallander about a 1980 incident involving an unidentified submarine that "invaded Swedish territorial waters." Von Enke was about to fire depth charges to bring the sub to the surface when higher-ups ordered him to abort. A few days after von Enke confides in the detective, he disappears; shortly after, his wife goes missing as well. As Wallander's quest for the truth leads him back to the era of cold war espionage, Mankell (Firewall) deftly interweaves the problems of Swedish society with the personal challenges of one man trying to understand what happened and why. 150,000 first printing; 5-city author tour. (Check Catalog)

Railway Maps of the World

A gorgeously illustrated collection of the world's greatest railway maps and posters, historical and contemporary.
"Transit Maps of the World" was an extraordinary and unexpected success and is now a cult favorite. In his irresistible follow-up Mark Ovenden has produced a mesmerizing compendium of historical and contemporary railway maps and posters from every corner of the world. Hundreds of images, covering two centuries of railway advertising, surveyors' plans, travel posters, satellite photos, and station wall maps, are combined with text brimming with vivid historical details and charming anecdotes.
Part One presents the stunning visual material chronologically, from the Liverpool and Manchester Railway of 1830 to the proposed 2020 high speed networks of China. Part Two is an atlas of maps from more than one hundred countries from Algeria to Argentina to Zambia and Zimbabwe. Appendixes include a trove of factoids, track stats and information about rail operators and rail museums. "Railway Maps of the World" is a visual delight for your eyes, making it a must have for every train fanatic-armchair or ticketed-history buff, and lover of graphic design.  (Check Catalog)

The Ancient Guide to Modern Life

In times as turbulent as these, comedienne Natalie Haynes brings her scholarship, wit, and a deeply insightful eye to the topic of reexamining our classical past to have a richer present. She contends there are few things more encouraging than the realization that the Greeks and Romans lived in much tougher conditions than most of us do--like the thirty-year war in fifth-century BC Athens that almost wiped out two successive generations of young men. Yet the people living through these tumultuous times thrived--they created successful political models, they built empires, they created poetry and art, and they questioned the very nature of man's place in the world.
Haynes bridges the gap between these seemingly archaic pieces of our history and the way our every day lives evolve, in politics, pop culture, history, making comparisons to such popular pieces of culture as the HBO series "The Wire," as well as Obama's election to office--and she does it all with a unique and charming narrative that truly and seamlessly pulls history into the forefront of our lives. Our history doesn't belong in dusty classrooms and dog-eared textbooks, it belongs in our lives, teaching us how to live here and now, and Natalie Haynes makes realizing this important lesson a pleasure. (Check Catalog)

Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects

In this darkly comical look at the sinister side of our relationship with the natural world, Stewart has tracked down over one hundred of our worst entomological foes creatures that infest, infect, and generally wreak havoc on human affairs. From the world 's most painful hornet, to the flies that transmit deadly diseases, to millipedes that stop traffic, to the bookworms that devour libraries, to the Japanese beetles munching on your roses, Wicked Bugs delves into the extraordinary powers of six- and eight-legged creatures.
With wit, style, and exacting research, Stewart has uncovered the most terrifying and titillating stories of bugs gone wild. It 's an A to Z of insect enemies, interspersed with sections that explore bugs with kinky sex lives ( She 's Just Not That Into You ), creatures lurking in the cupboard ( Fear No Weevil ), insects eating your tomatoes ( Gardener 's Dirty Dozen ), and phobias that feed our (sometimes) irrational responses to bugs ( Have No Fear ).
Intricate and strangely beautiful etchings and drawings by Briony Morrow-Cribbs capture diabolical bugs of all shapes and sizes in this mixture of history, science, murder, and intrigue that begins but doesn t end in your own backyard. (Check Catalog)

Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities

They may look sweet and innocent, but anyone who has ever broken out in a rash after picking a hyacinth blossom or burst into violent sneezing after sniffing a chrysanthemum knows that often the most beautiful flowers can pack the nastiest punch. This comes as no secret to mystery writers, who have long taken advantage of the nefarious properties of common garden plants to create the devices by which a deadly dose of poison is administered to an unsuspecting victim. But, as Stewart so entertainingly points out, such fiction is based on pure fact. There are plants that can kill with a drop of nectar, paralyze with the brush of a petal. From bucolic woodland streams choked by invasive purple loosestrife to languid southern fields overrun by kudzu, some plants are just more trouble than they’re worth. Culling legend and citing science, Stewart’s fact-filled, A–Z compendium of nature’s worst offenders offers practical and tantalizing composite views of toxic, irritating, prickly, and all-around ill-mannered plants. (Check Catalog)

What's Gotten Into Us?: Staying Healthy in a Toxic World

Finding a mysterious orange-sized lump in his side after years of healthy living was a warning sign for Jenkins, a journalism professor at the University of Delaware. In the course of being diagnosed, he was grilled about his exposure to a frightening collection of toxins and realized he had no idea what he was inadvertently breathing, ingesting, and absorbing every day. "The more I began to look into it," he writes, "the clearer it became that we have spent our lives virtually marinating in toxic chemicals: in the water that comes through the tap; in the plastics we find in our baby toys or use to store our food; in our soaps and shampoos and cosmetics; in the products we use to clean our homes; in the chemicals we spray on our weeds and apply to turn our toilet paper white." Jenkins argues "that industry uses its clout at both federal and state levels to kill most efforts at increasing what we can know about these toxins.... most chemicals have never been even minimally scrutinized for their toxicity." In this serious exposé that is surprisingly entertaining and positive, Jenkins uncovers the ubiquity and danger of these chemicals and offers some solutions, both personal and political, including the fascinating and inspiring story of a Maine chemical toxins study, and the role played by Hannah Pingree, study volunteer and former Maine state house majority leader, in passing a comprehensive chemical safety bill in Maine. (Check Catalog)

One Big Table: A Portrait of American Cooking: 600 Recipes from the Nation's Best Home Cooks, Farmers, Fishermen, Pit-Masters, and Chefs

O'Neill, former New York Times Magazine food writer and author (New York Cookbook), has compiled an informative and heartwarming refutation of the demise of American home cooking. Ten years and many miles in the making, this collection celebrates the nation's culinary diversity, both ethnically and agriculturally, and offers a uniquely intimate look at what home cooking in America is truly like today. O'Neill crossed the country, interviewing home cooks and spending time in the kitchens of recent immigrants. The results are enticing recipes that intertwine family stories, personal histories, and food. From stuffed Danish pancakes in Utah to tamales in Santa Fe and Vietnamese shrimp pancakes in Mississippi, this eclectic collection showcases the best this country has to offer. O'Neill also includes old-style American fare, including black-eyed pea and mustard greens soup, corn chowder, campfire trout, and bluegrass bass with Kentucky caviar. Sidebars abound on everything from black sea bass to Johnny Appleseed, Elvis to shrimp. As engaging in the armchair as it is in the kitchen, this book is an enduring testament to our historic traditions and the new culinary forays being made by American home cooks. (Check Catalog)