May New Books in Meeteetse
May 8th, 2008 by laura
Fiction
Winter Study by Nevada Barr — National Park Service Ranger Anna Pigeon returns to Isle Royale National Park in the dead of winter to deal with–well, dead things in the winter in northern Michigan.
The Sorrows of an American by Siri Hustvedt — A recently-divorced psychiatrist from New York and his recently-widowed sister return to Minnesota to go through their recently-deceased father’s belongings. They turn up a letter that hints at their father’s involvement in a death, along with many other buried family secrets.
Practically Perfect by Katie Fforde — Romance by way of renovation in this novel about a twentysomething interior decorator.
The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman — Most stories that feature a family over the generations move forward, from the earliest generation to the latest. Hoffman flips that convention on its head and begins with a contemporary story, and then jumps back in time to see moments in the lives of the ancestors of the characters in the first story. Margaret Atwood’s Moral Disorder is a little bit like that, too, if you’re looking for more of the same.
Bangkok Laws by Jim Michael Hansen — Serial killers, Bangkok sex slave rings, lawsuits, and a homicide detective. Not for the faint of heart.
The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber — An art history thriller in which a man brought in to do some restoration work is drawn into a macabre and arcane plot involving forgery, murder, and sundry crimes.
The Whole Truth by David Baldacci — Baldacci’s latest features a defense contractor, a mysterious man with no last name, and a young journalist with high aspirations, as well as the usual global conspiracies and fast-paced thrills.
Separated at Death by Sheldon Rusch — Illinois State Special Agent Elizabeth Hewitt is on the case of a killer who has been beheading estranged couples.
Cold Plague by Daniel Kalla — An outbreak of mad cow disease in France leaves several dead, and Dr. Noah Haldane is on the case. Dr. Claude Fontaine, meanwhile, is planning to sell exceptionally pure water from an underground lake in Antarctica. Want to know how the two connect? Read the book!
The Mirror’s Edge by Steven Sidor — A Chicago journalist starts investigating a cold case in which two-year-old twin brothers were kidnapped from their home in broad daylight. The crime has haunted the city in the year since it happened, and now it is haunting the journalist, who finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery.
Losing You by Nicci French — A mother must find her missing 15-year-old daughter. The police say she’s just a runaway who’ll be home soon, but her mother knows there is something more sinister going on.
Guilty by Karen Robards — Kate White has escaped her troubled past as a foster child–or has she? When a trial erupts into a battle, Kate is taken hostage, and all sorts of things come back to haunt her–and Detective Tom Braga is determined to uncover them all.
Another Thing to Fall by Laura Lippman — PI Tess Monaghan stumbles into the set of a miniseries being made in her neighborhood and ends up working as a bodyguard for drama’s star. That all seems bad enough, but then, of course, someone turns up dead.
Black Widow by Randy Wayne White — Retired marine biologist and undercover operative Doc Ford heads to the Caribbean to try to outsmart the blackmailers who are making threats using videotape of his goddaughter’s bachlorette party.
Midnight Rambler by James Swain — Jack Carpenter has lost his job and his family, but he’s determined to get the serial killer he once chased who’s now out of prison on a technicality.
Enlightenment for Idiots by Anne Cushman — Chic lit goes to India as a 29-year-old yoga instructor/freelance writer is sent to do a story on enlightenment.
The Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon — A young woman witnesses the kidnapping of a six-year-old girl and is forced to come to terms with the abduction of her childhood friend many years ago and her unresolved feelings for the friend’s brother, a prime suspect in the current case.
Sante Fe Dead by Stuart Woods — Attorney Ed Eagle and his girlfriend are watching the trial of his murderous ex-wife when they learn that she’s escaped custody and the chase begins.
The Ginseng Hunter by Jeff Talarigo — A middle-aged Chinese man works collecting ginseng near the North Korean border. A North Korean mother and daughter are separated during a famine. Their paths cross when the daughter ends up on the ginseng hunter’s doorstep.
The God of War by Marisa Silver — It’s 1978 and 12-year-old Ares is living in a trailer on the Salton Sea in southern California with his hippie mother and his younger brother Malcolm, who has only recently begun to be treated for developmental disabilities. Ares’s world is even less stable than his home, and he has to learn to make his own way through it.
The Coffin Blind by Mark Robbins — U.S. Marshall vs. animal rights terrorists in Concord, Massachusetts.
Nonfiction
The Very Best Sports Writing of Pat Jordan by Pat Jordan — Just what it says. Old and previously unpublished pieces from a veteran sports writer.
Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do by Lawrence Kutnuer and Cheryl Olson — The alarmist title of this book is somewhat deceptive, as it dismantles both the “video games promote violence!” and the “video games teach skills!” arguments frequently made by the media and the gaming industry, respectively. Kutnuer and Olson are the founders of the Harvard Medical School Center for Mental Health and Media, and in this work they examine and unpack claims and studies about video games and youth.
Climate Solutions: A Citizen’s Guide by Peter Barnes with a forward by Bill McKibben — Barnes, a successful socially responsible entrepreneur, lays out a plan for policies that will turn the tide of global warming.
The 33-Year-Old Rookie: How I Finally Made it to the Big Leagues After Eleven Years in the Minors by Chris Coste — How one man finally achieved his childhood dream of playing major league baseball.
Painting on Glass and Ceramic by Karen Embry — Easy instructions for decorating glass and pottery.
The River Cottage Meat Book by Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall with photographs by Simon Wheeler — More than you have probably ever wanted to know about various cuts and kinds of meat, with recipes.
The Soloist by Steve Lopez — Lopez, a columnist for the LA Times, is rushing back to his office one day when he is arrested by the sound of a two-stringed violin. The man making music on the instrument turns out to have once been a Julliard student with a promising future. The man now has schizophrenia and is living on skid row. Lopez befriends him and tries to change his life.
American Earth edited by Bill McKibben — An anthology of American environmental writing from Thoreau to the present day, with 80 pages of photos and illustrations
