January 21, 2010

	Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo This is the first installment in a new mystery series by Linda Castillo, who has published several romance novels prior to this book. It is a fast-paced, well-written thriller, with a very unusual sleuth at its heart. Raised Amish near the small Ohio town of Painter's Mill, Kate Burkholder is now the town's chief of police. Part of what makes her so effective as police chief is her ability to bridge the gap between the modern, English-speaking world, and the closed, traditional Amish community, whose members speak a German dialect as their first language. When a young woman is found murdered, Kate must face the terrors and secrets of her own past to solve the case. Of course, there are complications, especially when some of her superiors decide to bring in outside investigators who quickly threaten Kate's authority. The murders and crime scenes are described in great, and grisly, detail, so this is not exactly a good choice for cozy readers. However, if you like your mysteries a little more hard-boiled, this is a terrific series debut, with a second title, "Pray for Silence" already scheduled to be released later this year. [Also available in book-on-cd format.]
	The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate by Gary Chapman [646.78 Cha] Through reading this book, you can learn about the five "love languages" author Gary Chapman has identified. By figuring out the "love language" of your partner, you can more effectively express your love to that person. Likewise, if you can identify your own "love language," you can figure out what it is that you need to keep your own love tank full. [Also available in book-on-cd format.]
	Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton Crichton, who died in 2008, was known primarily for such high-tech thrillers as Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain. This new novel, found in manuscript form among his papers, will come as a bit of a surprise to many of his fans. It is, of all things, a pirate novel. Set in 1665, it tells the story of Captain Charles Hunter, a privateer who’s hired by the governor of Jamaica’s Port Royal to steal a Spanish galleon and its cargo of gold treasure. Don’t expect to see Jack Sparrow in this story of pirates of the Caribbean, though: Crichton doesn’t play his pirates for laughs. And this is no typical pirate adventure, either: it’s actually a caper novel posing as a high-seas adventure. All the key caper-novel elements are here: the target, the mastermind, the plan, the motley crew, the ruthless villain, the gadgets, the twist, and the turncoat. Crichton keeps us in a constant state of suspense, never revealing quite what his hero, Captain Hunter, has up his sleeve, and the novel ends most unexpectedly. Pirate fans will love the book for its flashy characters and historical authenticity. Crime fans will enjoy the caper-novel structure and the way the author keeps them on their toes. If this really is Crichton’s final book, it’s a splendid send-off: something new, different, and daring. -- Booklist Review [Also available in book-on-cd and Large Print formats.]
	The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan Director Del Toro (who won an Oscar for Pan's Labyrinth ) makes a dramatic splash in his fiction debut, the first volume in a vampires vs. humanity trilogy, coauthored with Hogan (Prince of Thieves ). Just as a jumbo jet on a flight from Germany to New York is touching down at JFK, something goes terribly wrong. When Ephraim Goodweather, of the Centers for Disease Control, investigates the darkened plane, he finds all but four passengers and crew dead, drained of blood. Despite Goodweather's efforts to keep the survivors segregated, they get discharged into the general population. Soon after, the corpses of the tragedy's victims disappear. The epidemiologist begins to credit the wild stories of Abraham Setrakian, an elderly pawnbroker who's the book's Van Helsing figure, and concludes that a master vampire has arrived in the U.S. The authors maintain the suspense and tension throughout in a tour de force reminiscent of Whitley Strieber's early work. -- Publisher's Weekly Review
	Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris A captivating page-turner that vividly evokes Saudi Arabiansociety and introduces an original new hero.When sixteen-year-old Nouf goes missing and is found drowned in the desert outside Jeddah, Nayir-a desert guide hired by her prominent family to search for her-feels compelled to find out what really happened. Gentle, hulking, conscientious Nayir soon finds himself delving into the interior life of a wealthy, protected teenage girl in one of the most rigidly segregated of Middle Eastern societies.To gain access to the world of women, Nayir realizes he will have to join forces with Katya Hijazi, a lab technician at the coroner's office and the fiancée of Nouf 's brother. In the course of working with Katya and uncovering the mysteries of the dead girl's mind, Nayir must confront his own desire for female companionship-and the limitations imposed by his beliefs."Finding Nouf" offers an unprecedented glimpse of daily life in Saudi Arabia in a lyrical, character-driven, and immensely satisfying mystery. Like Mma Romotswe in Alexander McCall Smith's best-selling series, Nayir al-Sharqi is a completely new kind of detective, who is sure to captivate both our hearts and our minds.
	The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer [942.03 Mor] Most people dream of traveling back in time, and not a small number of them would probably like to visit "Merry Olde England" in the days of knights, when the great cathedrals were newly-built. Ian Mortimer has written just the book for those wishing to turn the clock back-way back-to thirteenth-century Britain. What makes this book so different from other histories of this period, and such fun to read, is that Mortimer has written it much like a modern travel guide. He describes in detail the sights, sounds, and, perhaps most memorably, smells that a visitor to medieval England would encounter. He doesn't sugar-coat the lives that the people of this era lived-there is much here that may shock the reader of today. There are also pleasant surprises, and memorable tales. This book is getting some very good reviews, and that's because it's a rare thing-a non-fiction book, full of well-researched information, that's easy to read and really seems to transport the reader to another time and place.
	The Last Lecture by Randy Pautsch [158.1 Pau] When professor Randy Pausch learned that he was dying of cancer, he committed himself to living the remainder of his life as fully as possible. In "The Last Lecture," he shares his thoughts about life in an upbeat, entertaining, and inspirational way. [Also available in downloadable audio, book-on-cdLarge Print formats.]
	The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie and a World Transformed by Judy Shepard [364.152 She] Matthew Shepard was murdered in 1998. His name is now synonymous with gay rights in the US. In "The Meaning of Matthew," his mother shares what it was like for her and her family to go through that tragic event.
	The Help by Kathryn Stockett Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step in Kathryn Stockett's New York Times bestselling debut, The Help . . .Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can look like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. and why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. and sometimes lines are made to be crossed.In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women - mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends - view one another.A deeply moving book filled with poignancy, humour, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't. [Also available in book-on-cd and Large Print formats.]

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