April New Popular Books

The following new books have been added this month to the Popular Reading Collection located next to the circulation desk.   These books and any other titles currently checked out can be placed on hold.
See a staff member at the circulation desk for assistance.

 

The Old Wine Shades, by Martha Grimes
Secret Splendor, by Sandra Brown
False Impression, by Jeffrey Archer
The House, by Danielle Steel
The Tenth Circle, by Jodi Picoult
The Fallen, by Jefferson T. Parker
Abide with Me, by Elizabeth Strout
Prior Bad Acts, by Tami Hoag
The Secret Supper, by Javier Sierra
Necessary Evil, by Alex Kava



This Month's Great Escapes
by Bill McCleary



Mary, Mary, by James Patterson

This may be the fifth or sixth book Mr. Patterson has published with a 2005 copyright—I’ve lost track.  I say ‘published’ because I don’t know how many he actually writes any more; most of his output these days seems to be done with the help of co-authors.  But, so far he is keeping his Alex Cross series to himself.   Alex is with his family on vacation in California when he is called on to consult in the murder of a famous Hollywood actress.  The killer, calling herself Mary Smith, had emailed a newspaper editor warning of the murder just prior to the act.   Soon, another famous Hollywood celebrity is murdered by Mary.  Alex, now working for the FBI, has some personal problems to attend to and would rather not be involved in the investigation but he’s put on the case by the director.  Once he’s on the case, though,  Alex jumps in feet first—and ruffles some LA cop feathers when he questions whether the killer is even female.  Meanwhile, ‘Mary’ has started stalking her next victim.  This was a fairly good read and I liked the action set in Tinsel Town. 


The City of Falling Angels, by John Berendt

Reporter:  “John Berendt! You’ve just written the hugely popular international bestseller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ! What are you doing next?!”  Berendt: “I’m going to Disney World!”  Well…no.  Berendt actually decided to go to Venice for an extended stay.  Three days before his arrival, the historic, beautifully ornate Fenice Opera House, the last surviving opera house in Venice, is destroyed by fire.  As Berendt arrives, he can still smell the remains of the fire in the air.  Intrigued by the happenstance of this suspicious fire occurring so close to the start of his visit, Berendt decides that he will investigate the fire and the plans for the opera house’s  reconstruction during his stay in Venice.  The result is this thoroughly interesting and delightful book.  Berendt has managed to interview all the major—and some minor-- players involved in the opera house and the workings of Venice and the book is stuffed with unforgettable characters.  But, the star of the book is Venice itself and as the story unfolds we are treated to a terrific travelogue and history of the city.  You’ll want to jump on the next plane Venice-bound.


Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld

In the enjoyable I Am Charlotte Simmons, Tom Wolfe gave us the story of small town Charlotte and her experience as a scholarship student at an Ivy League college.  A nice bookend to the Wolfe book is this first novel by Sittenfeld—a writer to watch.  Lee Fiora is a fourteen-year-old living in South Bend, Indiana.  Although not as poor as Charlotte, her family could never afford to send her to a fancy New England prep school.  But Lee, who wishes her ordinary life was different, on a whim decides to apply to some prep schools and she unexpectedly gets accepted as a scholarship student to Ault School, an expensive prep school outside of Boston.  It certainly takes some nerve and grit to leave your family at the young age of fourteen and live far away across the country in a prep school.  For Lee, who goes from being a rather large fish in a small pond to being the opposite at Ault, it will be four life-changing years of pondering the Chinese expression ‘be careful what you wish for’.   This is a terrific debut novel. 


Forever Odd, by Dean Koontz

Unlike a lot of authors, Dean Koontz seldom writes sequels but he has done so here—and he has picked a good character to revisit.  Odd Thomas, first introduced in the novel of the same name, lives in a small California town and works as a fry cook.  Odd is indeed odd—he can see dead people.  Well, actually he can see the spirits of dead people who for some reason or another have not crossed over to the next world.  Elvis makes frequent appearances.  These spirits usually come to Odd when something bad has happened.  As our story begins, Odd is awakened by the spirit of the father of one of his friends; he apparently has just been murdered.  When Odd goes to his friend’s house, he finds the father indeed dead and his friend, Danny, is missing.  Odd soon gets a call telling him that Danny has been abducted and is being held in a secret location. The abductors want Odd to use his special powers to intuit where Danny is being held. Yes, in addition to seeing spirits, Odd can sometimes intuit things with the help of the spirits.  Odd eventually finds Danny in the burned out abandoned hulk of a former casino resort—with explosives strapped to him that will go off if he is moved.  Odd, with the assistance of some lingering spirits, must try to find and subdue the abductors before the explosives are detonated.   I enjoyed the first book a lot; this wasn’t quite as good but I still liked it.



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Revised Mar. 28, 2006

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