Newest Fiction Bestsellers in Atlanta Libraries

Multiple copies of the following novels were recently shipped to most branch libraries of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, including the Peachtree and Ponce branches. If a title you’re interested in isn’t available when you visit, we invite you to place a Hold on that title so we can deliver the next available copy for you to pick up at a branch convenient to you. Most branch libraries will have these titles displayed in a “NEW BOOKS” area, but just ask at the service desk if you can’t locate a particular title you’re interested in borrowing.

Titles are listed here in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.

Spring Fever (Mary Kay Andrews) – Annajane Hudgens certainly thinks she’s over her ex-husband; she even accepts an invitation to the wedding when he announces his engagement to another woman. It’s not till she’s actually sitting in the pew at the ceremony that she has an epiphany: she’s not over Mason at all. And it looks like Fate plans to give her a second chance.

The Cottage at Glass Beach (Heather Barbieri) – When she finds out her husband has been unfaithful, Nora Cunningham takes her daughters and goes back to the Massachusetts island where she lived as a child.  The island is steeped in superstition and the lore of the ocean, so when Nora comes across a shipwrecked fisherman, he seems at first to be one of the magical selkies. Instead he is the beginning of Nora’s recovery.

The Inquisitor’s Key (Jefferson Bass) – Forensic anthropologist Bill Brockton’s new case takes him way outside his normal stomping grounds. He’s summoned to Avignon in France, where the discovery of an ancient crypt in the Palace of the Popes has raised the possibility that the remains within are those of Jesus.

They Eat Puppies, Don’t They (Christopher Buckley) – Buckley’s marketing team must be rejoicing that his new book came out the very week of the uproar over the news that President Obama once ate dog. Title aside, this is another of Buckley’s satirical takes on current events and politics, in which a defense lobbyist tries to push through the funding for a new missile system by spreading the rumor that the Chinese plan to assassinate the Dalai Lama.

Guilt by Degrees (Marcia Clark) – Former O.J. prosecutor Clark has apparently achieved the mystery writer’s dream: she’s got a series going. She brings back L.A. deputy D.A. Rachel Knight (Guilt by Association) for a second case, in which a homeless man is stabbed to death and the eyewitness to the murder recants on the stand. 

The Storm (Clive Cussler) – The NUMA team heads out to investigate the disappearance of scientists from a NUMA ship in the Indian Ocean, and discovers a plot involving microbots that is the work of the usual evil mastermind.

Undead and Unstable (MaryJanice Davidson) – The Queen of the Vampires is back for more comic misadventures.

The Last Man (P.T. Deutermann) – In 70 A.D., the followers of the Zealots made their last stand against the Roman Empire at the fortress called Masada.  When they realized they had no chance of victory or escape, they chose to kill themselves – man, woman and child – rather than fall into the hands of their enemies.  One man was charged with checking that all had died, before killing himself.  Two thousand years later, an American archaeologist receives permission to explore the site, but what he is really looking for is the treasure that that last man allegedly buried.

The Road to Grace (Richard Paul Evans) – Alex Christofferson has been making progress in his mission of crossing America by foot (this is the third book in the series) but once again he is sidetracked by the problems of those he meets, including his dead wife’s estranged mother.

The Family Corleone (Ed Falco) – A new author takes over (from Mark Winegardner) the job of continuing Puzo’s Mafia saga. Falco brings it in a new direction by writing a prequel based on unpublished Puzo screenplays, which are set at the height of Don Corleone’s reign over the family.

Skinnydipping (Bethenny Frankel) – Is it any wonder achieving celebrity has become an actual career goal for many young people? Once you achieve that status, all doors open to you, even publishing doors, and along with the TV contract comes a contract for a book. Previously Ms. Frankel parlayed her appearance on “Real Housewives of New York” into a multi-million dollar business built around her Skinny Girl brand. Now she’s an author. At least she doesn’t stray too far from what she knows; her plot involves a woman trying to make it in the entertainment business who gets her big break on reality TV.

The Yard (Alex Garcian) – Scotland Yard is determined to learn from its failures in the case of Jack the Ripper. The first step is to create a “Murder Squad” of the best detectives, who find their first challenge is another serial killer – whose prey is detectives. 

Wife 22 (Melanie Gideon) – Alice Buckle may not call it that, but she’s at that midlife crisis that begins with “Is this all there is?” Maybe it’s the realization that she’s now the same age her mother was when she died, or the sense that her husband of 20+ years is more fulfilled in his career than she is in her family responsibilities, but whatever it is, she’s restless.  So when an email arrives inviting her to take part in an online study of long-term marriages, she agrees. Her work with Researcher 101 creates a weird online intimacy with this anonymous person, an intimacy that soon takes over her life.

Kiss the Dead (Laurell K. Hamilton) – A case could be made that it was Hamilton’s Anita Blake series that really got the vampire craze into high gear: the first book in the series was published in 1993. This is the 21^st Anita Blake book, in which the vampire hunter searches for a kidnapped teenager who may have been grabbed by vampires.  One other note – those who think Fifty Shades of Grey broke new ground by putting a lot of explicit sex into a mainstream book obviously never read any of the Blake books. 

In One Person (John Irving) – A young man growing up in the 1950’s becomes aware of his bisexuality. In the decades to come, as he moves to New York, becomes a writer, and experiences the AIDS epidemic of the early 1980’s, he comes to terms with his sexual identity.

Afraid to Die (Lisa Jackson) – Detectives Selena Alvarez and Regan Pascoli work on a case with a personal aspect: both victims were found wearing jewelry made by Selena.

Istanbul Passage (Joseph Kanon) – In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the former Allies are scrambling to save what they can before the Iron Curtain descends and the new geopolitical realities are set in stone.  That’s why Leon Bauer, an American businessman in Istanbul, is doing a job for American intelligence – smuggling a Romanian across the Bosphurus to escape the Soviets.  Bauer and his Jewish wife fled to Istanbul during the war for her safety; in their time there, the Bauers did the occasional job for Allied Intelligence. But nothing has prepared Bauer for the mess he’s about to get into, when the Romanian agent turns out to be the same man who massacred Jews during the war.  According to Kirkus Reviews, “this book takes its place among espionage novels as an instant classic”, so put this one on the must-read list.

The Stonecutter (Camilla Lackberg) – Popular Swedish mystery writer Lackberg’s third in her series featuring police officer Patrik Hedstrom now appears in English at last. Hedstrom’s new case cuts close to home: he has just become a father when he is called to investigate the apparently accidental death of a child.  It turns out to be not accident, but murder, with roots lie in an illicit relationship 75 years in the past.

Beautiful Sacrifice (Elizabeth Lowell) – Lina Taylor’s work as an archaeologist doesn’t usually involve dodging bullets but that’s what she finds herself doing when she joins forces with a former federal agent to search for missing Mayan statues.

God Don’t Make No Mistakes (Mary Monroe) – Monroe brings this popular series to a close, as best friends Rhoda and Annette cope with crises with their daughters.

Home (Toni Morrison) – Frank Money served his country in Korea but returned to find that country judged him for his race rather than his service.  He deals with his emotions by focusing on rescuing his sister from a relationship that threatens her life, and bringing both of them back to the Georgia town where they grew up.

On the Head of a Pin/The Gift of Fire (Walter Mosley) – Two short novels of speculative fiction from the prolific Mosley.

The Body in the Boudoir (Katherine Hall Page) – Page’s Faith Fairchild’s mysteries are obviously popular; this is the 20^th in the series. They remain quintessentially American-cosy (if such a subgenre exists). Faith is the wife of a clergyman, the mother of two lively kids, and the owner of a successful catering business; at various times, each of those roles pulls her into investigations of local murders. This latest in the series is something different. Page backs up 20 years to provide a prequel, when her romance with a young minister provides the backdrop to her first encounter with crime.

Calling Invisible Women (Jeanne Ray) – Clover Hobart has observed that the older she gets, the less visible she seems.  Men don’t look at her anymore, her husband and kids take her for granted, even at her job she has slowly melted into obscurity.  Then one day she wakes up to find she really is invisible. Even more shocking, no one notices.  Her family doesn’t see that there is no arm holding the plate with the breakfast bacon on it.  Her husband blows a kiss towards an empty robe and heads off to work.  That’s when Clover realizes that “she was invisible before she was invisible”. An ad in the paper summoning invisible women to a meeting clues her in to the fact that she’s not the only middle-aged woman who doesn’t exist in the eyes of others.   

Stolen Prey (John Sandford) – Patrick Brooks owns a small software company in the Midwest. Why would he and his family – wife, kids and even the dogs – be the targets of professional killers? The type of killing is so horrific that Lucas Davenport suspects there is a link to Mexican drug lords.

Newest Nonfiction Bestsellers in Atlanta Libraries

Copies of the following nonfiction titles were recently delivered to most branches of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, including the Peachtree and Ponce branches. If a title you’re interested in isn’t available when you visit, we invite you to place a Hold on that title so we can deliver the next available copy for you to pick up at a branch convenient to you.  Titles are listed here in alphabetical order by the author’s name. They are shelved at the library according to the Dewey Decimal number indicating the book’s subject, or, in the case of biographies, under the last name of the book’s subject.

Cronkite (Douglas Brinkley) – Historian Brinkley drew on Cronkite’s papers and interviews with his associates for this biography of the CBS journalist/news anchor, which reads more like a eulogy from a friend than an objective discussion of a life.

The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House (Ed Klein) – The political book of the moment, this one is being reviewed, applauded and condemned, depending on which side of the political aisle the commentator sits on. 

Across That Bridge (John Lewis) – The civil rights icon and Atlanta congressman draws on his experience in the civil rights movement for life lessons.

The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat: Craig Claiborne and the American Food Renaissance (Thomas McNamee) – Julia Child has received much of the credit for transforming America’s relationship with food, but McNamee puts in a claim on behalf of Craig Claiborne.  Claiborne’s roots were in the South, in the food and hospitality of the Mississippi Delta. He became the New York Times food editor in 1957, and from that bully pulpit, changed how our culture looked at dining out and food in general.   

Both of Us: My Life with Farrah (Ryan O’Neal) – The actor’s memoir of his thirty year long relationship with Farrah Fawcett.

It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership (Colin Powell) – Over the course of his career in the military and the State Department, Powell had plenty of opportunities to develop a philosophy of leadership, which he shares here.

I Hate Everyone…Starting with Me (Joan Rivers) – Pithy comments by the comedienne on topics ranging from aging, to children, to places other than New York. If the writing palls, one can always look at the photos of Joan over the years, showing her previous face(s).

Along the Way: The Journey of a Father and Son (Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez) – In 2010, Estevez directed “The Way”, a film about a man who finishes a pilgrimage begun by his son, who had died on the journey.  The film starred Sheen, Estevez’s own father; their experience working together on the film led them to team up again for this dual memoir.

Bombshell: Explosive Medical Secrets That Will Redefine Aging (Suzanne Somers) – Surely Somers is a uniquely American success story: an actress who found fame playing a dumb blonde on a TV comedy goes on to a second life as a health guru!  Somers’ latest describes where medicine is going – the use of nanotechnology, stem cells and hormones to fight the body’s natural aging process.

My Extraordinary Ordinary Life (Sissy Spacek) – Any list of Great Movie Moments would have to include the last scene in “Carrie”, when the hand shoots up out of the grave.  It may not have been Spacek’s actual hand, but it was she who created that memorable character, and many others.  The Oscar winner grew up in Texas; true to her rural roots, she put her film career on the back burner to raise a family on a farm in Virginia.  This is her memoir of the life she created, inside and outside the industry.

Newest Fiction Bestsellers in Atlanta Libraries

Multiple copies of the following novels were recently shipped to most branch libraries of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, including the Peachtree and Ponce branches. If a title you’re interested in isn’t available when you visit, we invite you to place a Hold on that title so we can deliver the next available copy for you to pick up at a branch convenient to you. Most branch libraries will have these titles displayed in a “NEW BOOKS” area, but just ask at the service desk if you can’t locate a particular title you’re interested in borrowing.

Titles are listed here in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.

White Horse (Alex Adams) – “Humanity is mostly dead and what’s left is dying.” It’s generally assumed that all those 1950’s movies about monsters and aliens from outer space were a cultural response to the anxieties of the times. If that’s the case, then what should we infer about the anxieties of our times from the current popularity of what’s known as dystopian fiction? Adams is the latest author to tell a story of a post-apocalyptic society. Her heroine is thirty year old Zoe, who is coping with the discovery that she’s pregnant, and with her fears about a mysterious jar that’s appeared in her apartment. Could it be the source of the mysterious virus that has laid waste to the population of the world?

Antiques Disposal (Barbara Allan) – One man’s trash is another’s treasure – a philosophy that is the raison d’etre for flea markets and garage sales.  In smal- town Mississippi, Vivian and Brandy Borne’s booth at the local mall hasn’t been producing much in the way of sales recently, so the two bid on, and win, the contents of an abandoned storage unit.  They’re delighted to find a vintage cornet was part of the contents, but, alas, so was a body.

The Sins of the Father (Jeffrey Archer) – Archer is back to continue the family saga he began in Only Time Will Tell. Harry Clifton is serving in the merchant marine at the start of World War II. When a German U-boat sinks his ship, Harry seizes the chance that a chaotic rescue provides to switch identities with an American sailor, in hopes of leaving his own messy life behind.

Robert B. Parker’s Lullaby (Ace Atkins) – Yet another writer’s brand proves impervious to death, as Ace Atkins steps in to continue Parker’s Spenser series. Spenser reopens a cold case at the request of an unusual client: the 14-year old daughter of the victim, who thinks the police blew the investigation.

The Innocent (David Baldacci) – The laws of war and the existence of the international court often tie the hands of the American government when it needs to take out individuals who pose a threat to the U.S.  Will Robie is the solution to that problem; he’s a freelance hit man for the U.S. government. When he blows an assignment because he can’t bring himself to kill a mother with kids, he finds himself on the run, along with a young girl who may be the key to a giant conspiracy.

The Proposal (Mary Balogh) – Balogh begins a new Regency romance series, with the story of a young society widow who falls in love with war hero whose conduct in battle has earned him a peerage but cannot make him her social equal.

An Accidental Affair (Eric Jerome Dickey) – Hollywood screenwriter James Thicke believed his wife, actress Regina Baptiste, when she said she didn’t even like her co-star, Johnny Bergs.  So why is there a video going viral in cyberspace, showing Regina having sex with Johnny?  More importantly, what is James going to do about it?

Unholy Night (Seth Grahame-Smith) – “Mashup revisionism” is a term used to describe books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, both of which were hugely popular and both of which just happen to have been written by Grahame-Smith.  Now the biggest target of all comes in for the Grahame-Smith treatment.  Everyone knows the story of the Nativity, and the visit of the Magi.  But who were the Magi?  According to Grahame-Smith, they were thieves and mercenaries who met up while incarcerated in Herod’s dungeons.  Posing as wise men from the east, they escape prison and find the Holy Family in Bethlehem, just in time to help them escape toEgypt.

Dead Level (Sarah Graves) – “Jake” Tiptree honed her house renovation skills working on her 1823 house inMaine throughout the previous books in this mystery series. Now she tackles some renovations at a cabin in the woods, oblivious to the fact she’s being stalked by someone she once sent to jail.

Calico Joe (John Grisham) – It’s interesting that so many novelists choose baseball as the context for their explorations of human nature.  A very short list would include Mark Harris (Bang the Drum Slowly), Bernard Malamud (The Natural), Philip Roth (The Great American Novel), Michael Shaara (For Love of the Game), all the way up to Chad Harbach’s big hit last year (The Art of Fielding). It seems as if the national pastime has had a big influence on the American literary mind. Grisham’s story is told by Paul Tracey, who is eleven years old in 1973, the year when a rookie named Joe Castle comes to the Cubs out of the minor leagues and shows signs that he will become one of the greats of the game.  Like pretty much everyone else that summer, Paul idolizes “Calico Joe”. Then a curmudgeonly veteran player for the Mets deliberately hits Calico in the head with a pitch, ending both their careers.  That player just happens to be Paul’s father.

Deadlocked (Charlaine Harris) – Sookie Stackhouse and the gang are back for their next-to-last adventure, which begins with Sookie discovering her husband (a vampire) feeding on another woman.

What Doesn’t Kill You (Iris Johansen) – Catherine Ling, a secondary character in a previous Johansen book, takes the spotlight in this one.  She’s beautiful and brilliant, and her unconventional upbringing (she grew up on the streets of Hong Kong, where she learned martial arts to defend herself – shades of Modesty Blaise here) prepared her well for her career in the CIA. 

Prague Fatale (Philip Kerr) – Bernie Gunther is back again, still struggling to survive as a decent cop in the nightmare that is Nazi Germany. It’s 1941, and Gunther is back in Homicide after a nightmarish stint on the eastern front.  His new assignment makes the Russian front almost preferable: he’s assigned to provide security for Reinhard Heydrich, the loathed and feared Reichsprotector of Czechoslovakia.  One of Heydrich’s aides has been found murdered. Gunther is supposed to make sure that Heydrich was not the target.

The Wind Through the Keyhole (Stephen King) – Apparently King wasn’t quite finished with the world of  The Dark Tower, as he returns to it in his latest.

The Fiddler (Beverly Lewis) – Amelia’s future has been laid out for her by her father, boyfriend and her agent: she’s going to be a classical violinist. Amelia herself would rather play the fiddle, but she doesn’t get much encouragement for that until she finds herself stranded in a mountain community where she meets a young Amish man.

Afterwards (Rosamund Lupton) – The “afterwards” that this thriller describes is, among other things, the consequence of arson at a local school.  Grace was at her son’s school for sports day when the fire broke out.  Knowing that her daughter Jenny hasn’t made it out, Grace runs into the building to find her.  Now both Grace and Jenny, gravely injured, lie in the hospital. To all outward appearance, they are oblivious to the world around them, but their spirits are actually roaming free, searching for answers to who caused the blaze, and why.  Reviewers say this is a can’t-put-down.

Capitol Murder (Phillip Margolin) – The team of Brad Miller and Dana Cutler return in a third political thriller set in Washington.  Miller is working for Senator Jack Carson.  Little does he know that his employer is being blackmailed by terrorists into leaking information on what the authorities suspect about a possible terrorist bombing. 

Thunder and Rain (Charles Martin) – Tyler Steele is an old-fashioned kind of man, unable to show the softness beneath the tough exterior.  That tough shell is useful in his work as a Texas Ranger, but it drove his wife to drugs and destroyed his marriage. He gets a second chance when he comes across a woman who is fleeing an abusive relationship.

House of the Hunted (Mark Mills) – It’s been more than 15 years since Tom Nash was a British intelligence officer inside Tsarist Russia as it fell to the Bolsheviks.  The memory of that time, and particularly of the Russian woman he loved who was executed by the new government, has driven him to leave the spy game behind and take up a life as an expatriate writer along the French Riviera.  Even as the telltale signs emerge that Europe is about to undergo another great upheaval, Tom discovers the violence in his own life is also coming back to haunt him – someone attempts to murder him in his bed.

The Cove (Ron Rash) – Laurel Shelton and her brother Hank farm some North Carolina land that the neighbors think is cursed. Her brother returned wounded from World War I, and the land’s reputation keeps the locals at a distance, so Laurel’s life isn’t easy. In fact, she wonders if she will ever achieve the kind of life other girls have. When she encounters a stranger in the woods, and begins a relationship with him, Laurel hopes her dreams of something more will come true.  Rash’s last book was Serena, which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner award, and this one is winning similar plaudits for the author’s portrayal of the Appalachian way of life.

The Reverend’s Wife (Kimberla Lawson Roby) – When Reverend Curtis Black finds out his wife Charlotte has cheated on him, not once but twice, he decides he wants a divorce. Charlotte, however, isn’t ready to give up on their marriage.

The Lifeboat (Charlotte Rogan) – With the centenary of the Titanic upon us, and the tragedy of the Costa Concordia sinking just behind us, Rogan has chosen a good time for her story of how a disaster at sea becomes a test of character and of truth. Grace has always had her eye out for the main chance, so she doesn’t cavil at stealing wealthy young Henry Winter from his fiancée.  She and Henry book a trip to New York on the Empress Alexandra in the summer of 1914. An explosion rocks the ship; Henry manages to get Grace into an already-overcrowded lifeboat.  That tiny boat and its passengers drift for three weeks. Food runs short and the boat is always at risk of turning over because it is carrying too many people. Someone must die if others are to live.  The choices Grace and others make will ultimately be held up for public scrutiny when rescue finally comes.

Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale (Lynda Rutledge) – In small-townTexas, when the local recluse emerges from 20 years of seclusion to hold a garage sale of all her possessions, neighbors are quick to alert Claudia Jean, her estranged daughter. Claudia Jean doesn’t want to come home because she knows she will have to face unfinished business not only with her mother, but with her first love, John Jaspar Johnson, now the local sheriff.

Fifteen Digits (Nick Santora) – Rick Mauro is working on his degree with an eye to law school, but the former construction worker’s blue collar credentials are still intact: he’s one of a crew of printers at a prestigious New York law firm who does all the printing of the firm’s legal documents.  Then a casual conversation with one of the firm’s younger lawyers changes everything. The lawyer suggests that Rick and his colleagues could use the insider information on those documents to make them all a fortune.   Interestingly, Santora wrote for “Law & Order,” which used a very similar plot device for an equally riveting episode.

The Song Remains the Same (Allison Winn Scotch) – Nell Slattery awakes in a hospital room to discover she is one of two survivors of a plane crash. She has to take the doctor’s word for that, as she has absolutely no memory of who she is or what happened.  Her family – mother, sister, husband – fill her in on the details, and she tries to pick up the pieces of her life.  But she gets the feeling that there’s something she’s not being told, that there are fragments of family life they’d just as soon she never remember.  Nice reviews on this one.

Come Home (Lisa Scottoline) – When you divorce someone, do you divorce his kids too?  That’s what it boils down to for Jill Farrow when her stepdaughter Abby shows up at her home.  Jill has been divorced for three years from Abby’s father William, who did his best to alienate both his daughters from Jill after the divorce. Now Abby has come to Jill for help: William is dead, Abby suspects he was murdered, and she’s turning to the woman she still thinks of as “Mom”. And Jill instinctively responds, because a maternal bond can’t be broken.

Nocturnal (Scott Sigler) – From the author of Infected, a new tale of horror in the city.  ASan Francisco homicide detective fears he’s losing his mind: he keeps dreaming of serial murders that end up coming true shortly thereafter.  But even his wildest fears can’t prepare him for the realization of what (who?) is living beneath the city’s streets.

The Inquisitor (Mark Allen Smith) – This is a novel which we might better describe by talking about its “protagonist” rather than its “hero”, for Geiger, the leading character, is a professional torturer. Geiger has a talent for sensing when he is being lied to, and an ability to create fear through physical, but more often psychological, methods that break the lies he hears. He hires himself out to those who need information. His latest client is an art collector who has had a valuable painting stolen from him: he plans to bring the thief to Geiger to find out where the painting is. Instead, he brings Geiger the thief’s young son, expecting Geiger to torture the child to reveal where his father is. For all his failings, Geiger does have a moral code, so he turns on the client, and escapes with the child, with many unsavory people in hot pursuit.  So maybe he’s a hero after all.  A first novel that’s expected to be a hit, but keep in mind that it has graphic descriptions of torture.

Murder on Fifth Avenue (Victoria Thompson) – Thompson’s latest in her series set during late Gilded Era New York involves a murder within the confines of one of the city’s most exclusive clubs, the Knickerbocker. 

The Beginner’s Goodbye (Anne Tyler) – A middle-aged man is left reeling after the sudden death of his wife, but discovers he can find a way back to wholeness.

Newest Nonfiction Bestsellers in Atlanta Libraries

Copies of the following nonfiction titles were recently delivered to most branches of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, including the Peachtree and Ponce branches.

If a title you’re interested in isn’t available when you visit, we invite you to place a Hold on that title so we can deliver the next available copy for you to pick up at the branch most convenient to you. 

Titles are listed here in alphabetical order by the author’s name. They are shelved at the library, however, according to the Dewey Decimal number indicating the book’s subject, or, in the case of biographies, under the last name of the book’s subject.

Prague Winter (Madeleine Albright) – In September 1945, Madeleine Albright was an 8 year old girl in Czechoslovakia, who would never have dreamed she would one day be an American Secretary of State.  She and her family, along with their country, had just come through the hell of Nazi occupation.  What she didn’t know then, and would not find out till she was an adult, was that she had Jewish relatives who had not survived.  This is Albright’s story of her family and of that terrible period in the life of her country. (For a fictional account of Prague under the Nazis, see Prague Fatale by Philip Kerr, also on this list.)

My Cross to Bear (Gregg Allman) – Like Keith Richards, whose 2010 memoir (Life) drew praise for its frankness, Allman presents an honest look at his life, from the lows (his drug and marital problems) to the highs (his music, and especially his love for his brother Duane). And in passing, he expresses lots of interesting opinions, as in “..there ain’t no such thing as British blues…Rock and roll and blues is America at its finest. British blues is like a parrot that lives in Greenland.”

Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell (Tom Bower) – In writing this gossipy bio of the entertainment mogul, Bower had access to Cowell and his associates, so there are lots of scoops for those interested in inside information on “American Idol”.

The Passage of Power (Robert A. Caro) – The first volume of Caro’s Pulitzer-winning multivolume biography of Lyndon Johnson came out in 1982; thirty years later, in this fourth book in the set, we have finally arrived at the peak period of Johnson’s life.  It takes over 600 pages to cover the six years between 1958 and 1964, but what years they were – from Johnson’s role as majority leader of the Senate, the vice-presidency, and finally the early months of the presidency in the aftermath of JFK’s assassination. (Those who are interested in Caro’s description of the assassination and its immediate aftermath might also want to try Clint Hill’s memoir of the assassination, also on this list.)

Midnight in Peking (Paul French) – A “true crime thriller”, in which French gives the cold case treatment to a murder from 1937, in which the body of a young English woman, a member of the expatriate community inPeking, was found horribly mutilated.  With Japanese forces on the verge of overrunning the city, the official investigation was soon dropped, but French picks up on the investigation started by the girl’s father, and follows the trail to its conclusion.  With the looming conquest by the Japanese forces, the corruption-riddled bureaucracy, and the insular (and arrogant) European expatriate community as a backdrop, this is a gripping tale of an unspeakable crime.

The Tyranny of Cliches (Jonah Goldberg) – Goldberg follows up on his bestselling Liberal Fascism with this one, in which he explicates liberals’ use of language to make their points.

Mrs. Kennedy and Me (Clint Hill) – It’s been nearly 50 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, but for baby boomers, the characters from that era – from the president, his brother Bobby, the brain trust members like Arthur Schlesinger, even the minor figures like press secretary Pierre Schlesinger – will always linger in memory. That is true especially of those who became famous through the assassination – people like Jack Ruby, John Connolly and the Secret Service agent who climbed into the speeding limo even as Jackie Kennedy tried to crawl out of it.  That agent was Clint Hill; a Clint Eastwood film (In the Line of Fire) presented a fictionalized version of Hill’s actions that day, but now Hill has written the story of his service with President Kennedy, including an account of that day inDallas from his unique perspective.  Fifty years later, the story is still riveting (and timely – read Hill’s account of Secret Service duties with the current scandal in mind).

The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption (Rodney King) – “Can we all just get along?” That plaintive cry, which became part of our national culture 20 years ago, was Rodney King’s response to the riots that broke out after the police officers who beat him were acquitted. Perhaps the line became so famous because it was such a heartfelt expression of how many people felt. In this memoir, King describes how he has lived that philosophy, as he has sought to accept and forgive both his own failings and those of others.   

A Natural Woman (Carole King) – The autobiography of songwriter (and boomer icon) King, who found success first as one half of the successful songwriting pair of Goffin and King and then became a hugely successful performer of her own work.

Never Say Never: Finding a Life That Fits (RickiLake) –Lake’s memoir discusses her career in the entertainment industry, her relationships and her lifelong battle with weight.

Game Over: Jerry Sandusky, Penn State, and the Culture of Silence (Bill Moushey & Bob Dvorchak) – The sad and sordid story of the events to date in the Penn State scandal.

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake (Anna Quindlen) – Back in the 1980’s, Quindlen was known for her column in the New York Times, in which she considered the role of women through the prism of her own life.  She went on to become a bestselling novelist and winner of the Pulitzer, but she’s come full circle in this book of essays in which she again looks at her own experience and finds it parallels that of most women of her generation.

Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News (Dan Rather) – The veteran reporter’s memoir of his long career, including a heated defense of his role in the controversial story that led to his departure from CBS.

What Would Michelle Do? (Allison Samuels) – Advice on developing self-confidence and personal style, drawing on the example of the First Lady.

No They Can’t: Why Government Fails but Individuals Succeed (John Stossel) – The consumer advocate turned TV commentator argues that government cannot provide solutions to our problems.

After Camelot (J. Randy Taraborrelli) – It’s interesting to see the Kennedy books still coming, given that the events of Camelot are now over half a century removed, and most people under forty wouldn’t recognize names like Joe Sr., Jack and Jackie, Bobbie and Ethel – names that once held a glamour that no modern celebrity could possibly approach.  When Teddy Kennedy died, it seemed the last link to those days was gone for good. But for those who grew up during that time, there is probably curiosity about how all the stories came out, and that is what Taraborelli provides: the story of the Kennedys after 1968.  

You Have No Idea (Vanessa Williams and Helen Williams) – Mother and daughter team up for a memoir of Vanessa’s childhood and career, and of the ways in which their relationship has sustained them both.

Newest Fiction Bestsellers in Atlanta Libraries

Multiple copies of the following novels were recently shipped to most branch libraries of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, including the Peachtree and Ponce branches. If a title you’re interested in isn’t available when you visit, we invite you to place a Hold on that title so we can deliver the next available copy for you to pick up at a branch convenient to you. Most branch libraries will have these titles displayed in a “NEW BOOKS” area, but just ask at the service desk if you can’t locate a particular title you’re interested in borrowing.

Titles are listed here in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.

Carry the One (Carol Anshaw) – Alice and her brother Nick have just left their sister Carmen’s wedding.  Nick’s a little stoned, so his girlfriend Olivia is driving the car full of wedding guests when they hit and kill a ten-year old girl.  That event creates a permanent bond among all those who were in the car, even as their lives move forward in different directions.

Phantom (Ted Bell) – MI6 operative Alex Hawke is back for a seventh go at saving the world. This time he’s hunting down a scientist who is using a breakthrough with artificial intelligence to wreak technological havoc around the world.

The O’Briens (Peter Behrens) – A family saga that follows the O’Brien family as they rise from their rough beginnings in a logging town in Quebec, through Prohibition and two world wars to wealth as railroad owners.

Force of Nature (C. J. Box) – In the 12^th Joe Pickett mystery, Joe has to figure out how much he will risk for a friend. Nate Romanowski knows that someone is coming for him.  A secret from his past is about to catch up with him, but it’s the way it’s catching up with him that’s the real problem.  His friends are being killed, and it looks like Joe Pickett is next in line.

The Lost Years (Mary Higgins Clark) – Clark ventures into DaVinci Code territory in her latest. Jonathan Lyons is a biblical scholar who claims to have found a letter, allegedly written by Jesus, which has been missing for centuries. Shortly thereafter, Lyons is found murdered in his home; his wife, who suffers from dementia, is considered the prime suspect. Their daughter believes the real killer is someone who wants the letter, but how can she prove that?

The Affair (Alicia Clifford) – Writer Celia Bayley’s novels were acclaimed for showing a masterly understanding of the human heart; her readers imagined that her insights came from her own privileged life as an upper class girl who fell in love with a rugged war hero. But as her children go through Celia’s personal papers after her death, they discover their mother’s secret: she had had to live for years with her husband’s infidelity, until she stumbled into a passionate affair with another man. 

Stay Close (Harlan Coben) – Megan Pierce’s husband and two kids would be very surprised to know that in a previous life, this housewife mom was a stripper in Atlantic City.  While Megan wouldn’t trade her new life for her old one, she does miss the glamour and the thrills, so she takes a nostalgic trip to her old haunts, only to find herself caught up again in the mystery surrounding the death years ago of one of her clients.

Blowout (Byron Dorgan and David Hagberg) – A secret research project is on the verge of freeing America from its dependence on foreign oil.  That would reshape geopolitics; it would also not be good for anyone with a large financial stake in oil.  So it’s only a matter of time before a group of mercenaries is hired to stop the research by any means necessary.

The Blind Spy (Alex Dryden) – A private intelligence company – bigger even than the CIA – goes up against Vladimir Putin when Putin enlists former KGB agents in a plot to destabilize Ukraine as an independent nation.

The Gods of Gotham (Lyndsay Faye) – A gripping historical thriller, set in New York City in 1845.  Irish immigrants are pouring into the city, fleeing famine in Ireland and fueling anti-Catholic sentiment in New York.  Timothy Wilde, who has just joined the fledgling New York City Police Department, comes upon a child covered in blood who talks about a place where many bodies are buried.  Her story proves true, and the discovery of the bodies of twenty children inflames the anti-Irish feeling in the city.  Wilde is unsure about his role as cop but his own integrity requires that he find and stop the serial killer responsible.  (For a non-fiction depiction of New York in roughly the same period, read Island of Vice, elsewhere on this list.) 

Another Piece of My Heart (Jane Green) – At 37, Andi had almost given up on finding Mr. Right, till she meets Ethan, a divorced man with two children.  When Andi and Ethan marry, Andi settles in to enjoy her ready-made family, only to find that her new stepdaughter Emily has no intention of accepting Andi into the family. 

Arcadia (Lauren Groff) – Groff (The Monsters of Templeton) tells the story of Bit Stone, who spent his childhood in a utopian community in the 60’s, and finds himself unable to successfully life outside it as an adult.

Children of Wrath (Paul Grossman) – In The Sleepwalkers, Grossman introduced Willi Kraus, a detective in the Berlin police in Germany’s WeimarRepublic, whose abilities as a detective are overshadowed in the eyes of his superiors by his identity as a Jew.  Grossman’s second mystery featuring Kraus jumps backwards in time a few years, to 1929.  The Berlin police are working on two big cases – the discovery in sewers of bags of human bones, and the tainting of sausage meat that has made hundreds of people sick.  Kraus, already feeling the effects of second class citizenship, is relegated to the sausage case, but soon finds there is a connection between the two cases.  As with his first Kraus mystery, Grossman is earning some great reviews for this one – along with warnings that the material isn’t for the squeamish.

When Maidens Mourn (C. S. Harris) – In the 7^th in this series of mysteries set in Regency England, amateur sleuth Sebastian St. Cyr is on his honeymoon when he discovers the existence of a group using the legend of King Arthur as a cover for a plot to overthrow the king.

The Enchantments (Kathryn Harrison) – Surely one of the most gripping stories in history is that of the last Tsar of Russia and his family.  Decades ago, Robert Massie’s Nicholas and Alexandra told the nonfiction story of how Rasputin gained influence over the Russian royal family through his supposed ability to treat the hemophilia of the Tsar’s son.  Now Harrison gives a fictional account of the last days of the Romanov dynasty, imagining a relationship between Rasputin’s daughters and that doomed young prince.

Death Comes Silently (Carolyn Hart) – It’s Annie Darling’s day to volunteer at the local food pantry, but she’s got a conflict. So she asks another volunteer to take her shift at Better Tomorrow, promising to hurry over as soon as she can.  When she finally gets there, she finds the other woman murdered.  Thus begins Annie’s 22^nd case.

The Good Father (Noah Hawley) – Dr. Paul Allen has moved on from his first marriage. He’s remarried with a new family, and if Daniel, his son by his first marriage, seems a little lost, it doesn’t occur to Paul that Daniel’s restlessness may be collateral damage from the divorce that happened when Daniel was seven.  He hasn’t even seen much of Daniel since the boy dropped out of college, but given the demands of his busy practice and his family, Paul’s too busy to think about Daniel – till the Secret Service agents show up at his door to tell him Daniel has assassinated a presidential candidate.  Only then does Paul start to think about what he has been like as a parent.  A good choice for book clubs.

The Professionals (Owen Laukkanen) – “Professional” is exactly what Pender, Sawyer, Marie and Mouse are not, which is really the root of their problem.  The four are all college grads who can’t find jobs, so they invent a career of their own: they kidnap wealthy businessmen for ransom.  By keeping the ransom very low, they encourage their victims to let the crime go unreported. Two years later, they’re finding their new career very fulfilling – till they make the mistake of grabbing a businessman with ties to the Mafia, and they begin to understand what “professional” really means.

The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (Alexander McCall Smith) – Precious Ramotswe’s detective agency has been built on the principles expounded in the American book The Principles of Private Detection. So when the author of that book happens to show up in town, Mma Ramotswe is delighted to enlist his help with her current case.

The Song of Achilles (Madeline Miller) – Miller sets herself an ambitious task for her first novel: to retell for modern sensibilities one of the founding epics of Western civilization – the story of the Trojan War.

The Girl Next Door (Brad Parks) – As a newspaper reporter, Carter Ross always has his eye out for a small story that could become the Big Story.  Reading the obits, he finds himself touched by the hit and run death of a woman who supplemented her waitress earnings by delivering newspapers, so he sets out to write a story on her, giving her life and accidental death the big human interest angle. His story turns out to be bigger than he’d hoped, when his research leads him to evidence that the hit and run was no accident.

Fall from Grace (Richard North Patterson) – Adam Blaine was estranged from his father, famous writer Ben Blaine. When Ben is found dead at the foot of a cliff near his Martha’s Vineyard home, Adam is surprised to find Ben named him as executor. He’s even more surprised by the terms of the will, which cuts out Ben’s family in favor of his mistress.  It looks like Ben may have been murdered, so it’s up to Adam to protect the family from suspicion and try to overturn the will.

The Expats (Chris Pavone) – The concept of the undercover agent or cop who’s living two lives and trying to recognize which is the real life is a staple of books and film.  Kate Moore has that problem.  She’s been an undercover CIA agent for 15 years, but for the last 5 she’s also been a wife and mother.  She’s never told her husband Dexter what she does, and when he’s offered a job inEurope, she leaps at the chance to leave the country – and hopefully, her secret life – behind her.  Kate and Dexter make friends with another American couple, until Kate begins to see signs that maybe this new life is really just another layer of deception.

Dorchester Terrace (Anne Perry) – Thomas Pitt is now head of Scotland Yard’s Special Branch, responsible for warding off the rumored assassination of a visiting foreign duke.  As usual, Pitt’s wife Charlotte finds herself working the same case from a different angle, when an old friend lets slip some dangerous information.

Cain at Gettysburg (Ralph Peters) – Peters revisits Michael Shaara territory with this fictional retelling of the battle ofGettysburg.     

The Book of Lost Fragrances (M. L. Rose) – Is there a perfume that can open the door to recollection of past lives?  That’s been a long-standing legend in the L’Etoile family, owners of an old and respected French parfumerie that is now on the verge of bankruptcy. Robbie L’Etoile is searching the family archives in hopes of stumbling upon something that can save the business when he comes upon a piece of pottery from ancientEgypt that has traces of this legendary scent.  When he mysteriously disappears, it’s up to his sister Jac to solve the mystery of this ancient perfume.

Betrayal (Danielle Steel) – Tallie Jones’ career as a wildly successful movie director means she never has to worry about money.  Her business partner – who’s also her boyfriend – handles all that so that Tallie can concentrate on her work. Then an investor in one of Tallie’s films demands an audit, and Tallie finds out that someone’s been draining her bank account.

An American Spy (Olen Steinhauer) – A Chinese agent who infiltrated one of the CIA’s most clandestine units wreaked havoc on it by killing most of the agents attached to the unit. Milo Weaver is one of the few who survived. Unfortunately, he and his family will never be safe until Weaver takes care of those responsible for the massacre.  This follow-up to Steinhauer’s The Nearest Exit has garnered great reviews, so espionage fiction lovers will want to check this one out.

Low Down and Dirty (Vickie M. Stringer) – Red, the heroine of several previous books by Stringer, is currently living the good life inArizona, thanks to her recent bestselling book.  She doesn’t get to enjoy it for long, though, as all those people she double-crossed back in Detroit are hot on her trail.

The Shoemaker’s Wife (Adriana Trigiani) – In the early years of the 20^th century, in a village in northern Italy, two young people meet and fall in love. Their plans to be together are shattered when Ciro’s involvement in a local scandal forces him to flee toAmerica.  Enza too finds her way toAmerica, but the lives the two build in their new country are very separate, until the day their paths cross again.

May the Road Rise Up To Meet You (Peter Troy) – Historical fiction that examines the America of the Civil War era through the lives of four people. Ethan McOwen escaped the Great Famine in his native Ireland by emigrating toAmerica.  When the war breaks out, he joins the famous Irish Brigade to fight for the Union.  Mary and Micah are both slaves on aRichmond plantation. When they fall in love, they come up with a plan to escape slavery together. Marcella is a young woman from a wealthy family who defies her family to dedicate herself to the cause of abolition.  As the fight against slavery becomes a civil war, the lives of these four will intersect.

By Blood (Ellen Ullman) – 1970’s San Francisco: A professor under the cloud of an ethics investigation has to move his office into rented space off-campus.  In his new digs, he can hear the sessions that the therapist next door is having with a patient who is trying to discover her birth mother.  Both the therapist and the patient have ties to World War II Germany, and as the professor becomes convinced that the therapist is impeding the patient’s search, he becomes obsessed with helping the woman solve the mystery of her origins.  From this, Ullman spins a tale that one reviewer called “Hitchcockian.”

That’s How I Roll (Andrew Vachss) – The law has finally caught up with hired assassin Esau Till. From death row, Esau looks back at the road that led him here: horrific abuse by his father, a struggle with a debilitating infirmity, but most of all, overwhelming love for his “slow” younger brother.  It was his desire to protect that brother that finally brought Esau down, and even from prison, Esau will do what he can to save his brother.

Harbor Nocturne (Joseph Wambaugh) – Wambaugh brings a few of the characters from his Hollywood Station series into his new one, set in a different part of L.A. – the area near the San Pedro port, through which human traffickers are smuggling illegal immigrants.

So Pretty It Hurts (Kate White) – In her latest outing, gossip reporter Bailey Weggins accepts an invitation to join a weekend house party at the upstate home of a record producer. A snowstorm puts a damper on the fun but things go seriously wrong when one of the guests, supermodel Devon Barr, is found dead. It may be accidental, it may be suicide..it may even be murder.  Whatever it is, Bailey isn’t going to miss the chance to get the scoop for her paper.

Darker Than Any Shadow (Tina Whittle) –Atlanta is being overrun by poets, all of whom are in town to compete in a national poetry slam that rewards the winner with both prestige and money. Tai Randolph has a friend in the competition and a boyfriend providing security, so she’s on the scene when one of the contestants is found murdered in a bathroom. Whittle is a local author; this is the second in the Tai Randolph series.

Death of an Artist (Kate Wilhelm) – Tony Mauricio earned his NYPD disability retirement with a bullet in his hip. He’s through with violence, so he moves to a smallOregon town on the Pacific coast. Unfortunately, violence isn’t through with Tony – the suspicious death of a local artist hits close to home among Tony’s new friends.

Elegy for Eddie (Jacqueline Winspear) – Thanks to the education and experiences provided by her wealthy patrons, investigator Maisie Dobbs has risen out of the working class socially and financially, but she retains her old allegiance to the friends of her past. When some of them ask her to look into the death of a gentle slow-witted man who earned his living running errands, she is happy to oblige. The surprise is that Eddie’s death seems to be linked to the shadowy forces that are pushing England to stop the rise of Hitler inGermany.

Newest Nonfiction Bestsellers in Atlanta Libraries

Copies of the following nonfiction titles were recently delivered to most branches of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, including the Peachtree and Ponce branches.

If a title you’re interested in isn’t available when you visit, we invite you to place a Hold on that title so we can deliver the next available copy for you to pick up at the branch most convenient to you.

Titles are listed here in alphabetical order by the author’s name. They are shelved at the library, however, according to the Dewey Decimal number indicating the book’s subject, or, in the case of biographies, under the last name of the book’s subject.

Flagrant Conduct: How a Bedroom Arrest Decriminalized Gay Americans (Dale Carpenter) – Carpenter is a professor of civil rights and constitutional law who is known to many non-lawyers from his writing at the influential law blog The Volokh Conspiracy.  One of Carpenter’s areas of study is sexual orientation and the law.  Carpenter draws on that expertise in this study of a case (Lawrence v.Texas) that was a landmark in gay rights.

Showdown: The Inside Story of How Obama Fought Back Against Boehner, Cantor, and the Tea Party (David Corn) – Corn, Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones and an MSNBC commentator, provides a look at the third year of the Obama presidency, as the White House team geared up for the coming presidential election.

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (Jonathan Haidt) – A professor of psychology and business ethics, Haidt presents a fascinating exploration of what morality comes built in to us, what we add to that as we grow, how that influences the way we experience our culture, and why, therefore, we can have enormous disagreements about that culture.  Great support for the radical theory that maybe those on the Other Side – whichever the Other Side is for each of us – are not stupid, evil or deranged, but simply see the problem differently.

Let It Go: Forgive So You Can Be Forgiven (T.D. Jakes) – An exploration of the role of forgiveness in healing ourselves, by the popular pastor and author.

Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster (Kristen Johnston) – Johnston, an actress best known for the role of Sally on TV’s “3^rd Rock from the Sun”, shows a different talent here in writing a memoir of her addictions that is getting some great reviews.

The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present (Eric R. Kandel) – Stimulating intellectual history from Nobel winner Kandel, whose work in neuroscience informs his discussion of Freud’s pioneering work with the unconscious, its influence in the arts as well as the sciences and how current research on the physiology of the brain sheds light on the workings of our mind, conscious and unconscious.

Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America (Gilbert King) – In Florida in 1949, Thurgood Marshall went up against the Klan, corrupt police and theFlorida citrus industry to fight the unjust conviction of four African-American men accused of raping a white woman. This is the story King tells – of Jim Crow laws enforced by a racist sheriff, of innocent victims shot in cold blood, and of lawyers who stood firm in the face of violence and death (one of the lawyers was murdered) to bring down a lawless system.  Could be an award contender this year.

Rights at Risk: The Limits of Liberty in Modern America (David K. Shipler) – Last year, Pulitzer Prize-winner Shipler wrote The Rights of the People: How Our Search for Safety Invades Our Liberties.  This is his companion volume, which discusses the ways in which fear for our national security or personal safety has stacked the deck on the side of government and law enforcement.

The One: The Life and Music of James Brown (RJ Smith) – A biography of the “Godfather of Soul”, from his childhood of poverty and racism to stardom at the Apollo and beyond. 

Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt’s Doomed Quest to Clean up Sin-Loving New York (Richard Zacks) – In the years between his glory days with the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War and his time in the White House, Teddy Roosevelt served as police commissioner ofNew York City. But even Teddy’s many gifts were no match for the corruption and crime of Tammany Hall.  Zacks tells a gripping story of an idealistic reformer up against the ultimate city machine.

Newest Fiction Bestsellers in Atlanta Libraries

Multiple copies of the following novels were recently shipped to most branch libraries of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, including the Peachtree and Ponce branches. If a title you’re interested in isn’t available when you visit, we invite you to place a Hold on that title so we can deliver the next available copy for you to pick up at the branch most convenient to you. Most branch libraries will have these titles displayed in a “NEW BOOKS” area, but just ask at the service desk if you can’t locate a particular title you’re interested in borrowing. Titles are listed here in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.

Cat’s Claw (Susan Wittig Albert) – TheTexas town of Pecan Springs has been the scene of many mysteries investigated by resident herbalist China Bayles with the assistance of her friend, the local sheriff Sheila Dawson.  NowDawson steps up to take center stage in the series, as she works the case of a local murder disguised as suicide.

The Dressmaker (Kate Alcott) – Tess is a young seamstress with dreams of becoming a dressmaker.  Her dreams become less improbable when famous designer Lady Lucille Duff Gordon engages her as personal maid on a voyage toAmerica on the new liner Titanic.  Titanic buffs will find this an interesting take on Duff Gordon, who, along with her husband Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon, is usually seen as a villain of the Titanic tale (they refused to let their almost-empty lifeboat return to look for survivors in the water).

The Darlings (Christina Alger) – When attorney Paul Ross marries Merrill Darling, daughter of hedge fund billionaire Carter Darling, he marries into a lavish lifestyle. And when he loses his job, he’s able to step into the Darling family business as a lawyer on the hedge fund legal staff. But his good luck runs out when one of the fund managers commits suicide amidst signs that there has been some major financial mismanagement.  Ross finds himself cast as the potential scapegoat; clearing his name may require betraying his wife’s family. 

Pure (Juliana Baggott) – An apocalyptic event known as “the detonations” has left the world in chaos.  The disfigured survivors – some of them fused with animals or inanimate objects – struggle to live in a poisonous landscape at the whim of the strong. The very few – known as “Pures” – who have survived unscathed, live inside the “Domes”.  Partridge is a Pure, but when he learns his mother may be alive outside, he ventures out into the horror that is life outside the Dome.  Film rights have already been sold for this one.

Death of a Kingfisher (M. C. Beaton) – Scottish policeman Hamish Macbeth is back for another pleasant outing in the Scottish Highlands. This time he’s charged with finding out who is behind the vandalism that’s keeping tourists out of a small town economically dependent on tourism.

The Shadow Patrol (Alex Berenson) – Former CIA agent John Wells takes on an unpleasant assignment: ferreting out American soldiers who are using their military activities in Afghanistan as a cover for drug smuggling.

Dying in the Wool (Frances Brody) – Kate Shackleton’s husband went missing on a French battlefield in the Great War.  Four years later, Kate still struggles to live with the uncertainty – that he is probably dead but that she may never know for sure.  That’s why she helps other women search for answers about men who went missing.  This time she takes on the case of Joshua Braithwaite, a wealthy mill owner who disappeared just before his daughter’s wedding.

Ragnaraok: The End of the Gods (A. S. Byatt) – A girl evacuated fromLondon during the Blitz seeks an understanding of the war that is raging around her by immersing herself in stories of the ancient Norse gods.

Sonoma Rose (Jennifer Chiaverini) – The latest in the Elm Creek Quilts series is set in theCalifornia during Prohibition, when Rosa Barclay struggles to survive an abusive marriage.

No Mark upon Her (Deborah Crombie) – Superintendent Duncan Kincaid of Scotland Yard investigates the murder of one of his own: a police officer whose body has been pulled from the Thames.  She had many enemies within the police force, so Kincaid and his colleague (and wife) Gemma James must consider the possibility that someone in the police force is a murderer.

The Thief  (Clive Cussler) – Isaac Bell is returning toAmerica on the Cunard steamerMauretania; a casual evening stroll on the deck is interrupted by violence when he has to rescue two fellow passengers from mysterious assailants who vanish overboard.  It seems the two are scientists whose research is sought by German agents, intent on giving the German Empire an edge in the coming conflict withBritain.

The House I Loved (Tatiana de Rosnay) – “Urban renewal” didn’t begin with the American city governments of  the 1960’s and 70’s; it’s been with us as long as rulers and governments have felt the need, for one reason or the other, to consciously shape the cities in which their people lived.  Mid-19^th century Paris experienced one of the most radical of these re-shapings, as whole sections of the city were torn down and redesigned to create the wide boulevards for which Paris is known today.  What was gained was a beautiful and healthier place, but what was lost was the Paris of the Middle Ages, and the way of life of many Parisians.  De Rosnay (Sarah’s Key)’s new novel is the story of one of those Parisians: Rose Bazelet, who clings to her home and her past even as the forces of change and destruction get closer.   (For a non-fiction look at a more recent episode of eminent domain, try Little Pink House: a True Story of Defiance and Courage – Jeff Benedict’s account of an urban renewal struggle in Connecticut a few years ago.) 

Kill Shot (Vince Flynn) – CIA operative Mitch Rapp is pursuing a personal vendetta: tracking down and assassinating those responsible for the bombing of the Pan Am flight over Lockerbie. When his actions bring embarrassment to theU.S. government, Rapp himself becomes a target.

Boca Daze (Steven M. Forman) – Ex-Boston cop Eddie Perlmutter is settling in to retirement life as a private investigator in Florida, and he finds there’s no shortage of cases to keep him busy – from investigating the beating of a homeless man to looking into a Ponzi scheme that’s hurting local retirees.

Friends Like Us (Lauren Fox) – Willa’s best friend in high school was Ben, but she’s lost touch with him over the years as she’s moved into adult life.  Her best friend now is her roommate Jane; the two are as close as sisters – until Ben comes back into Willa’s life and becomes involved with Jane.  Fox’s book examines friendship and the perennial female problem of how that friendship is affected when a guy comes on the scene.

Cinnamon Roll Murder (Joanne Fluke) –Lake Eden’s resident baker Hannah Swensen is drawn into a murder investigation once more when the keyboardist for a visiting jazz band turns up stabbed to death.  This is a series known for its recipes as much as its mysteries, so if you’re looking for some ideas for Easter baking, you might want to pick this one up.

All That I Am (Anna Funder) – On a visit to her cousin Dora Fabian in Munich, Ruth Becker meets and falls in love with journalist Hans Wesemann.  A few years later, Ruth and Hans are married, and they along with Dora and her partner Ernst, are active in left wing causes in Germany – till the rise of the Nazis endangers all that they care about.  

Black Site (Dalton Fury) – Kolt Raynor used to be a Delta Force officer. Now he’s working in private security and living inside a bottle, wracked by guilt over the botched operation that cost him his job and several of his men their lives.  When he hears that some of those men may be alive and captive deep inside hostile territory in the mountains ofPakistan, Raynor pulls himself together and heads out on a mission of redemption. 

Midnight in Austenland (Shannon Hale) – These days, Jane Austen is everywhere. It started with the movie and TV remakes of her works, and hasn’t stopped yet. In the next few months, no fewer than 5 works of nonfiction will address Austen, and in the fiction realm, she’s the inspiration for P.D. James’ current title Death Comes to Pemberley and the star of an ongoing mystery series by Stephanie Barron.  Shannon Hale made her own contribution to the genre in Austenland – the story of a fictional theme park based on Austen’s world, where visitors to a stately home can escape to the Regency period for a break from their stressful modern lives.  In this follow-up, Charlotte Kinder, decides that a few days role-playing in Austenland is just what she needs to help her recover from a divorce.  But the dead body in the attic definitely wasn’t in the script.

Deader Home & Gardens (Joan Hess) – In her latest outing, Arkansas bookstore owner Claire Malloy is just back from her honeymoon with police officer Peter Rosen.  Now that she’s married, she needs a bigger house, and she soon finds a big Victorian that would be perfect.  But first her realtor disappears, and then the owner dies in odd circumstances, and pretty soon Claire realizes that someone wants this property badly enough to kill for it.

Left for Dead (J.A. Jance) – Ali Reynolds went through thePolice Academy with Jose Reyes, so although she’s not in that line of work any more, she joins the investigation when Reyes is shot and left for dead during a traffic stop.  Her old friend is suspected of being a dirty cop, but Reynolds won’t accept that, which means she has to find the truth behind the shooting.

Deceit and Devotion (RM Johnson) – Daphanie Coleman signed her baby over to the baby’s father. When she has second thoughts, she enlists the help of Austin Harris to get the baby back.  This is the latest in Johnson’s series built around the Harris brothers.

Third Grave Ahead (Darynda Jones) – Private investigator Charley Davidson, who specializes in the paranormal, is back for a third outing, in which her client is an unusually scary one – possibly because he’s the son of Satan.

Victims (Jonathan Kellerman) – The LAPD once more enlists the help of psychologist Alex Delaware. This time the search is for a brutal Jack-the-Ripper style killer.

I’ve Got Your Number (Sophie Kinsella) – Poppy has an enormous crisis on her hands – she’s just lost her engagement ring! And to top it off, her phone was stolen right afterwards.  She spots a phone in the trash, picks it up and appropriates it for herself, much to the chagrin of the phone’s real owner, Sam Roxton. Poppy persuades him to let her hang onto the phone, with the promise to send Sam the important messages.  What she doesn’t expect is that acting as custodian of Sam’s phone soon has her deeply involved in Sam’s personal life.

Trail of the Spellmans (Lisa Lutz) – Private investigator Isabel Spellman once more tries to solve cases with the assistance of her dysfunctional family.

Gathering of Waters (Bernice L. McFadden) – A town can be haunted by its past, and so it is with Money, Mississippi, the town where Emmett Till was murdered in 1955.  Money is the narrator in McFadden’s fictionalized retelling of Till’s death, and its effect on the woman who loved him.

Watergate (Thomas Mallon) – Four decades after the events that led to the downfall of Richard Nixon, Mallon (Henry and Clara) gives it the historical fiction treatment, finding the comedy and the drama in the characters (Howard Hunt! Rose Mary Woods! Martha Mitchell!) whose deeds and explanations transfixed a nation.

The Healing (Jonathan Odell) – Granada was born the daughter of a field slave on a Mississippi plantation. When the plantation owner’s wife loses a daughter to cholera,Granada is brought into the house and treated as a substitute of sorts, until she’s apprenticed to Polly Shine, a slave who has a reputation as a healer.  Polly’s outspokenness wins her some powerful enemies, but the healing she brings will shapeGranada’s life for decades to come. 

Unwanted (Kristina Ohlsson) – A mother leaves her sleeping child alone on a train while she steps off at a station stop to make a fast phone call.  The train pulls out, the mother is left behind, and by the time the conductor gets a call that the child is alone on board, the little girl has disappeared.  Her clothes are found first, then her body.  As theStockholm police investigate, they begin to understand that the person they are hunting is trying to punish mothers who don’t seem to care enough about their children.

Oath of Office (Michael Palmer) – When a Washington doctor with a history of alcoholism shoots several patients and co-workers to death, the assumption is that his struggle with substance abuse was the cause.  His friend and sponsor, Dr. Lou Welcome, doesn’t believe that – and other odd incidents in the area support his suspicion that something is very wrong inWashingtonD.C.

The Technologists (Matthew Pearl) -Pearl’s latest historical mystery is set inBoston in1868, not long after the opening of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT’s mission is to explore science with the intention of harnessing new scientific discoveries to serve mankind.  Four of its students find themselves with an opportunity to show what science can do when a series of odd occurrences disrupt life in the city.

Lone Wolf (Jodi Picoult) – Luke Warren is an expert on wolves.  In fact, he’s been more interested in the life of the wolf pack than that of his human family.  Result: an ex-wife, an alienated son, and an over-protective daughter.  When Luke is left in a vegetative state after a car accident, the decision whether to take him off life support lies with his children, whose relationship with their father leaves them on opposite sides of that decision.

The Wolf Gift (Anne Rice) – A young reporter’s involvement with an older woman and her mysterious house leads to him turning into a werewolf.  He uses his new powers to help those in danger, for it seems that one werewolf attribute is the ability to sniff out evil.

Celebrity in Death (J.D. Robb) – Lt. Eve Dallas is in Hollywood, where a movie based on her NYPD adventures is being filmed.  Eve being Eve, murder follows her even there; at a glamorous party introducing the cast, a young actress turns up dead in the pool.  Believe it or not, this is the 35^th in this series.

Bleed for Me (Michael Robotham) – Clinical psychologist Joe O’Loughlin often works with the police, but this time it’s personal:  a 14 year old girl, a friend of his daughter, shows up at his wife’s home covered incoherent and covered in blood.  Police who go to her house find her father with his throat slit.  Did she kill her father?  O’Loughlin must find out.

Timebomb (Gerald Seymour) – A British intelligence agent goes undercover as an employee of a Russian money launderer.  At stake: finding a nuclear device that’s being offered for sale by an ex-KGB agent.  This is dense Le Carre-type spy stuff.

Restless in the Grave (Dana Stabenow) – To help out the police,Alaska p.i. Kate Shugak goes undercover to find out whether the crash of a local billionaire’s small plane was really an accident

Newest Nonfiction Bestsellers in Atlanta Libraries

Copies of the following nonfiction titles were recently delivered to most branches of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, including the Peachtree and Ponce branches. If a title you’re interested in isn’t available when you visit, we invite you to place a Hold on that title so we can deliver the next available copy for you to pick up at the branch most convenient to you. Titles are listed here in alphabetical order by the author’s name. They are shelved at the library, however, according to the Dewey Decimal number indicating the book’s subject, or, in the case of biographies, under the last name of the book’s subject.

King Peggy: An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village (Peggielene Bartels) – Bartels left Ghana after high school and made a life for herself in Washington D.C., till the day in 2008 that she got a call telling her that her uncle, the village king, had died – and she was his heir.  Bartels describes her return to Ghana, where she discovered a village that had no doctor, no running water, and no desire to listen to a female ruler.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity (Katherine Boo) – Boo’s writing for the Washington Post and the New Yorker has earned her a Pulitzer and a MacArthur “genius” grant. Now she expands her reporting to book length, to describe life in a slum area of Mumbai, where those who live there in poverty still hope that India’s economic boom will provide them with an escape.

Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life (Natalie Dykstra) – In 19^th century Boston, Clover Adams led the glamorous life of a wealthy, well-connected woman of the Gilded Age.  She was the product of wealth and society, she had received an excellent education for a woman of that time, and as the wife of historian Henry Adams, she was at the center of the intellectual life of the city (and the supposed inspiration for Henry James’ Daisy Miller).  Yet she committed suicide at age 42 by drinking the chemicals she used in her photography avocation.  Dykstra sets out to answer the question: “Why?”

Wreck and Sinking of the Titanic: The Ocean’s Greatest Disaster (Marshall Everett) – This April will mark the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.  Over the course of that hundred years, interest in that tragic story has never waned: supposedly it is one of the most written about events in history.  With the anniversary upon us, the publishing world is in a frenzy, bringing out new titles on every aspect of the disaster, but this title is a unique way to commemorate the tragedy.  It’s a reprint of a 1912 report on the sinking that came out only months after the ship went down, inclulding the eyewitness reports of those like Colonel Archibald Gracie, who was swept off the deck as the ocean finally covered Titanic, but made it to the surface and swam to a raft. (For some new fiction around the event, see Kate Alcott’s book above.)

The First Lady of Fleet Street: The Life of Rachel Beer: Crusading Heiress and Newspaper Pioneer (Eilat Negev) – Born in Bombay to an ancient Jewish family with roots in Iraq, Rachel Sassoon grew up to be an owner and editor of British newspapers at a time when women were not part of public life.  This is a fascinating story not only of Rachel’s life, but of Jewish life in England in the 19^th century.

That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor (Anne Sebba) – Wallis Simpson, the woman for whom Edward VIII gave up the throne of England, has recently floated back into public consciousness, thanks to two films – “The King’s Speech” and Madonna’s “W.E.”  So it’s a good time for a new look at the woman who stole a king, not from a wife, but from his country. 

FDR and Chief Justice Hughes: The President, the Supreme Court, and the Epic Battle over the New Deal (James F. Simon) – Conflict between the executive branch and the judicial branch is nothing new in American history, but it reached its peak when FDR attempted to “pack” the court so that his New Deal reforms could not be overturned by the court.  Simon, a law professor whose previous books have twice been included among the New York Times Notable Books, tells the story of this legal showdown between the president and the chief justice.

Restless Souls: The Sharon Tate Family’s Account of Stardom, the Manson Murders, and a Crusade for Justice (Alisa Statman with Brie Tate) – A new perspective on the horrific murders that became one of the iconic events of the Sixties, drawn from Tate family papers.

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal (Jeanette Winterson) – An acclaimed writer’s memoir of the real life events that she fictionalized in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.  Winterson was an adopted child, whose abusive mother often locked her out of the house. The child took refuge in the public library, where literature opened to her a method of escape and, eventually, a future.

Newest Fiction Bestsellers in Atlanta Libraries

Multiple copies of the following novels were recently shipped to most branch libraries of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, including the Peachtree and Ponce branches. If a title you’re interested in isn’t available when you visit, we invite you to place a Hold on that title so we can deliver the next available copy for you to pick up at the branch most convenient to you. Most branch libraries will have these titles displayed in a “NEW BOOKS” area, but just ask at the service desk if you can’t locate a particular title you’re interested in borrowing.

Titles are listed here in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.

A Charitable Body (Robert Barnard) – Detective Inspector Charlie Peace is investigating the discovery of a body found in a lake near stately home Walbrook Manor.  As it happens, his wife is on the board of the charitable trust that oversees Walbrook, and she and Charlie soon come to the conclusion that there is a link between the body and some old secrets associated with the home and the families who lived there.

The Rope (Nevada Barr) – Loyal readers have followed Ranger Anna Pigeon through the mysteries she encounters in her assignments in national parks in deserts, lakes and forests – environments all brought wonderfully to life by Barr. Now Barr provides the back story: how Pigeon came to join the park service after an encounter with violence during a hike through the desert.  Barr being Barr, the suspense and the details about location are enough to make you jump out of your skin.

The Look of Love (Mary Jane Clark) – Piper Donovan, a would-be actress who actually makes her living as a cake baker, gladly accepts an offer of a stay at an exclusive L.A. spa in return for baking the cake for the wedding of the owner’s daughter. Unfortunately, her spa stay promises to be anything but relaxing: someone is trying to kill her client.

The Cat Sitter’s Pajamas (Blaize Clement) – The cat in question belongs to a pro football player who’s on vacation in Italy, leaving Dixie Hemingway in charge of the felines.  When she discovers a dead body in the house, cat sitting turns into a murder investigation.

Death of Kings (Bernard Cornwell) – King Alfred is dying: his dream to gather Saxon and Viking, Christian and pagan, into a united England may well die with him, and with it, his attempt to establish a dynasty.  More great historical fiction from Cornwell.

Taken (Robert Crais) – Nita Morales’ daughter has disappeared.  Though she’s had a ransom call, Nita suspects her daughter may have staged her own kidnapping. When Nita hires Elvis Cole to investigate, Cole and his associate Joe Pike find the trail leads to men involved in human trafficking.

Bond Girl (Erin Duffy) – Alex Garrett came out of college determined to break into Wall Street, so when she gets a job with a bond firm, she’s prepared to put up with the role of office gofer and the wild ways of her co-workers in hopes of breaking into their ranks.  But just as she’s about to make it into the boy’s club, the Wall Street meltdown of 2008 arrives.  This one’s had good buzz; one reviewer claims it “does a terrific job of reviving chick lit”.

Gone West (Carola Dunn) – Aristocratic sleuth Daisy Dalrymple is enlisted by a friend who’s worried that someone is trying to kill her employer.  This is the 20^th in this long-running series set in 1920’s England.

Catch Me (Lisa Gardner) – Charlene Grant had two best friends.  Two years ago, one was murdered on January 21. Last year, the other met the same fate. Charlene believes that this January 21 it will be her turn.  She doesn’t expect to be able to escape her doom, but she does ask Detective D.D. Warren to solve her murder once it happens.  Great plot!

Believing the Lie (Elizabeth George) -  Inspector Lynley goes undercover to investigate what appears to be an accidental death.  Lynley being Lynley, his angst, his emotions, his friends, all play a prominent role in the case, while his loyal colleague Barbara Havers is content as usual to function as general dogsbody. 

Need You Now (James Grippando) – When a Bernie Madoff-like figure commits suicide after losing $60 billion of other people’s money, the Swiss bank that had held some of the money dispatches Patrick Lloyd to join the investigation.  What Lloyd soon discovers is that some of those who lost money are taking steps of their own to find the missing billions – and they don’t draw the line at murder.

The Underside of Joy (Sere Prince Halverson) – Ella has been stepmom to Joe’s three kids since she and Joe married three years ago. But when Joe dies, the ex-wife steps back into the picture, determined to win custody of the children she abandoned.  There’s been good buzz on this one, so read it now before the book club demand kicks in!

Home Front (Kristin Hannah) – Jolene is a wife and mother – and an army helicopter pilot.  When she’s deployed to Iraq, long-simmering tension in her marriage over her military career threatens to break up her family.

The Fear Index (Robert Harris) – Artificial intelligence run amok in the financial markets– that’s the intriguing plot line in Harris’ latest.

One Perfect Shot (Steven F. Havill) – The latest in the Posada County mystery series is a prequel that establishes how deputy Estelle Reyes joined the team to investigate what appears to be the targeted assassination of a county employee.

Hanging Hill (Mo Hayder) – Zoe Benedict is the detective investigating the death of teenaged Lorne Wood; she’s also the aunt of Lorne’s good friend.  Those two roles start to conflict when Zoe’s investigations reveal the girls may have been drawn into the dark world of amateur porn.

A Grown-up Kind of Pretty (Joshilyn Jackson) – When she was only 15, Ginny Slocumb gave birth to a daughter, Liza.  When Liza was 15, she too became a mother, producing Mosey.  As Mosey prepares to turn 15, Ginny and Liza brace for a repeat of their past. 

Reefs and Shoals (Dewey Lambdin) – Captain Alan Lawrie returns for more action on the high seas, as he and his crew on the Royal Navy ship Reliant battle Napoleon and patrol the Caribbean in search of pirates off the coast of Florida.

Raylan (Elmore Leonard) – Leonard brings back U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (who’s also the star of the TV show “Justified”). Givens’ own past as a coal miner comes in useful in his battles with a corrupt coal company executive.

The Flight of Gemma Hardy (Margot Livesey) – Orphan Gemma Hardy is taken in by a kind uncle and a not-so-kind aunt. When the uncle dies, Gemma endures harsh treatment at the hands of her aunt, so she’s all too glad to escape to a boarding school – only to find she’s exchanged one cruel environment for another. Escape beckons again, through the offer of a job as a nanny in the remote Orkney Islands, in the home of the equally remote Mr. Sinclair…. .By now, you will have recognized the plot, for Livesey is giving us a modern reworking of Jane Eyre.    

Dead Low Tide (Bret Lott) – A “literary thriller” set in the Low Country of South Carolina.  Huger Dillard, first introduced in The Hunt Club in 1998, is 27 years old now, but drifting through life, still feeling the aftershocks of having killed someone.  He and his father find a woman’s body in the marshes off an exclusive golf course one night and thereby set in motion a series of events that points to the presence of local terrorists.

All I Did Was Shoot My Man (Walter Mosley) – Mosley brings back his complex hero, private investigator Leonid McGill, for what may be his best outing yet.  McGill’s compassion for those he works with has its roots in his awareness of his own less than perfect moral choices. Case in point: the client he framed a few years ago. Now he takes the opportunity to get her out of jail, but he may come to regret his redemptive deed.

The Chalk Girl (Carol O’Connell) – It’s been five years since her last appearance, but O’Connell finally brings back her anti-social, possibly even sociopathic heroine, NYPD detective Mallory.  Mallory’s own history helps her relate to the small girl found wandering in Central Park, unable to explain the blood on her shoulders, or how she got there.

The Odds (Stewart O’Nan) – A couple whose 30 year marriage is crumbling under the financial pressure of job loss and foreclosure returns to the scene of their honeymoon – Niagara Falls – and hits the casino there in hopes of recovering their money and, possibly, their love for each other.

Helpless (Daniel Palmer) – Ex-SEAL Tom Hawkins moves back home to take custody of his teenaged daughter, and a job as a school soccer coach, after his ex-wife is murdered.  Hawkins knows the sheriff suspects he may have had something to do with his wife’s death, but when an anonymous blogger claims Tom is sleeping with a student, he begins to realize someone’s got it in for him. With his second thriller, Palmer identifies himself as an author to watch.     

Gideon’s Corpse (Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child) – A terrorist who is literally radioactive – that’s what Gideon Crew is up against this time around.

Scarecrow Returns (Matthew Reilly) – A group of terrorists, the Army of Thieves, take over an old Soviet-era Russian research facility in the Arctic – and with it, a doomsday device that can set on fire the atmosphere above the northern hemisphere.  Fortunately for our side, Shane Schofield – a/k/a “Scarecrow” – and his team are already in the area when the call comes through to take out the terrorists while everyone north of the equator can still breathe.

The Darkening Field (William Ryan) – Russia, 1937: the paranoia of life under Stalin has everyone in its grip. So when Captain Alexei Korolev of the Moscow CID is assigned to look into the suicide of a young woman working on a movie set in Odessa, he is torn between finding the truth and the fear of antagonizing the Party.  (For another mystery set in the Soviet Union, see Tom Rob Smith’s Agent 6, below)

Agent 6 (Tom Rob Smith) – The final volume in the series that began with the acclaimed Child 44 come to a close.  Leo Demidov may no longer be with the Soviet secret police, but the damage from years of working within the structures of the police state that prop up the communist system is permanent.  But he is still a police officer, and when a terrible crime strikes close to home, he embarks on a quest for justice. (For another mystery set in the Soviet Union, see William Ryan’s The Darkening Field, above)

Iago (David Snodin) – One of Shakespeare’s most memorable villains gets his own starring vehicle here.  In Snodin’s fictionalized sequel to Othello, the Chief Inquisitor of Venice is determined to bring Iago to justice, but to do so he must explore what drives Iago’s actions.

All Necessary Force (Brad Taylor) – Pike Logan, the head of a secret anti-terrorist task force, takes his team into action when American nuclear plants are targeted.  Right or wrong, legal or not, he’s prepared to do whatever it takes to save his country.

The Confession (Charles Todd) – Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge, still dealing with the effects of his service in World War I, meets Wyatt Russell, a man who says he is dying of cancer and that before he dies, he must confess to a murder committed during the war.  Without a body, Rutledge can only begin an investigation into what the man has told him, but the investigation has barely gotten under way when Russell’s body is found – dead not of cancer but of a bullet.

The Quality of Mercy (Barry Unsworth) – Unsworth’s 1992 novel about the British slave trade (Sacred Hunger) won the Booker Prize. Twenty years later he has written the sequel, picking up the story of Erasmus Kemp, still dealing with the aftereffects of the loss of his father’s ship and its cargo of slaves.

Another Woman (Penny Vincenzi) – Family secrets are brought to light when a bride disappears on the day of her wedding.  Soap opera on a grand scale!

The Family Business (Carl Weber & Eric Pete) – A successful Brooklyn business man contemplates retirement, but before he can do so he must decide to which family member he can entrust the family business.

Jack Holmes & His Friend (Edmund White) – Against the background of the sexual revolution of the 1960’s, two young men come to New York and explore their sexual identities.

An Available Man (Hilma Wilitzer) – When Edward Schuyler’s wife dies of cancer, he has a hard time moving on with his life. So his children put him back into the social whirl through a personal ad in the New York Review of Books.

Newest Nonfiction Bestsellers at Atlanta Libraries

Copies of the following nonfiction titles were recently delivered to most branches of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, including the Peachtree and Ponce branches. If a title you’re interested in isn’t available when you visit, we invite you to place a Hold on that title so we can deliver the next available copy for you to pick up at the branch most convenient to you. Titles are listed here in alphabetical order by the author’s name. They are shelved at the library, however, according to the Dewey Decimal number indicating the book’s subject, or, in the case of biographies, under the last name of the book’s subject.

 All In: The Education of General David Petraeus (Paula Broadwell) – A look at the military career of a “transformative” general.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking (Susan Cain) – In a world that rewards self-promotion, where social networking, celebrity, and working the room are tools for success, are introverts undervalued?  Yes, says Cain, and here’s why.

Smart Trust (Stephen M. R. Covey) – “..trust is fast becoming the most consequential life and leadership skill of our time” – so argues Covey in the follow-up to The Speed of Trust.

Pity the Billionaire (Thomas Frank) – The author of the hugely successful What’s the Matter with Kansas wonders why the economic mess, far from leading ordinary people to reject capitalist systems, has spurred the rise of conservatism.

Revolution  2.0 (Wael Ghonim) – Ghonim’s Facebook page protesting a killing by Egyptian security helped spark the uprising in Egypt last spring, the first revolution organized using social media.  Ghonim describes the events, including his own arrest and interrogation, and the lessons in people power that can be drawn from this historic uprising.

I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down (Jennifer Hudson) – Hudson details her triumph over weight and image issues.

The Obamas (Jodi Kantor) – Life in the White House, and its effect on the President and First Lady, both as a couple and as individuals.  The hot political book of the month.

Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America (Mark R. Levin) – The popular conservative commentator explores the notion of utopia, and how the dreams of an ideal society are very different from the vision of society on which the Founders based the U.S. Constitution.

The Real Elizabeth (Andrew Marr) – BBC journalist Marr gives “an intimate portrait” of Queen Elizabeth, looking back at her six decades on the throne, and the changing role of the monarchy, as the anniversary of her accession approaches.  (For another biography of the queen, see Sallie Bedell Smith’s Elizabeth the Queen, also on this list.)

Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 (Charles Murray) – Murray’s sociological research was the basis for his much-debated The Bell Curve (1994). He may elicit similar controversy with his new study of American culture, which posits a growing divide between a small elite isolated in “SuperZips” and a “new lower class” in which the erosion in social capital (e.g. the decline in marriage) leads to a downward slide.

Sophie: The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog (Emma Pearse) – Is there room for just one more dog story on your reading list?  Yes, when it’s the story of a dog who was swept overboard from her owner’s boat, and presumed drowned – only to be spotted five months later on an island six miles (of shark-infested waters) from where she was lost.  Hopefully Sophie has had nothing but treats and belly rubs since coming home.

Elizabeth the Queen (Sallie Bedell Smith) – Next month will mark the 60^th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s accession to the throne of England.  Only Queen Victoria reigned longer, and Elizabeth may yet break that record.  This new biography looks at the queen who has presided over post-war England, the England of the Beatles and Carnaby Street, the England of Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana – and whose abilities and careful stewardship of the monarchy are only now being recognized. (For another biography of the queen, see Andrew Marr’s The Real Elizabeth, also on this list; the Smith book is a livelier read.)

Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again (Donald Trump) – Trump continues to hint that he may run for president. If so, perhaps this is intended to be his campaign manifesto – the Trump laundry list of what’s wrong with the country and what needs to be done to fix it.