Talking Book Topics May-June 2023

Books for Adults

Books listed in this issue of Talking Book Topics were recently sent to cooperating libraries. The complete collection contains a wide range of fiction and nonfiction books, including biographies, classics, westerns, mysteries, romances, and others.

Registered users may also immediately download all titles and magazines from the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) service at nlsbard.loc.gov/. The free BARD Mobile app is available from the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon’s Appstore for reading talking books on your personal smart phone or tablet. To learn more about the collection or to sign up for BARD, contact your local cooperating library.

Books within the headings Adult Fiction and Adult Nonfiction are listed alphabetically by subject category, author last name, and title. For example, the title War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy would be listed in Adult Fiction under the Classics subject category and by the last name Tolstoy.

NLS uses publisher-provided book descriptions for most new titles. These descriptions give patrons insight into book content, making it easier to identify titles of interest. These descriptions appear in the NLS Catalog, on BARD, and in NLS publications as "Provided by publisher" and are taken verbatim from the publisher. These descriptions do not represent the position of the Library of Congress and may reference other works or supplementary materials not available from NLS or in the NLS edition.

Note: A notice may appear immediately following the book description to indicate occurrences of violence, strong language, or descriptions of sex. The word “some” before any of these terms indicates an occasional or infrequent occurrence, as in “some strong language.” Commercial audiobooks for which NLS does not have access to the print book may display the notice “unrated,” which means that the book may or may not contain violence, strong language, or descriptions of sex.

Adult Fiction

Blindness and Disabilities

The Unexpected Path
DB109069 6 hours 58 minutes
by Barbara Hinske
read by Laura Hatch
"After Emily Main loses her sight, she and Garth work to forge their future in Emily's new normal. Convincing her well-intentioned but misinformed coworkers that she's as capable as ever is her biggest challenge--until Connor shows up on her door. Can they heal old wounds and give their fledgling marriage a fresh start? Meanwhile, tragedy strikes young Zoe, and Emily has a life-changing choice to make. Follow along as Garth and Emily step out, together, to meet every challenge." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. 2021.
DB109069 The Unexpected Path

Family

The Funny Thing about Norman Foreman
DB109019 9 hours 14 minutes
by Julietta Henderson
read by Katherine Parkinson
"Twelve-year-old Norman Foreman and his best friend, Jax, are a legendary comedic duo in waiting, with a plan to take their act all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe. But when Jax dies, Norman decides the only fitting tribute is to perform at the festival himself. The problem is, Norman's not the funny one. Jax was. There's also another, far more colossal objective on Norman's new plan that his single mom, Sadie, wasn't ready for: he wants to find the father he's never known. Determined to put a smile back on her boy's face, Sadie resolves to face up to her own messy past, get Norman to the Fringe and help track down a man whose identity is a mystery, even to her. Julietta Henderson's delightfully funny and tender debut takes us on a road trip with a mother and son who will live in the reader's heart for a long time to come, and teaches us that--no matter the odds--we must always reach for the stars." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109019 The Funny Thing about Norman Foreman

Fantasy

Storm and Fury
DB99944 14 hours 23 minutes
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
read by Lauren Fortgang
Eighteen-year-old Trinity Marrow, who is losing her sight, has a well-kept secret. She can see and talk to the dead and must remain in a special compound to protect her from demons. But a new threat emerges. Unrated. Violence, strong language and descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2019.
DB99944 Storm and Fury

The War of Two Queens
DB107775 35 hours 18 minutes
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
read by Elizabeth Rose
Nothing will stop Poppy from freeing her King and destroying everything the Blood Crown stands for. With the strength of the Primal of Life's guards behind her, and the support of the wolven, Poppy must convince the Atlantian generals to make war her way--because there can be no retreat this time. Sequel to The Crown of Gilded Bones (DB107774). Violence, strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. 2022.
DB107775 The War of Two Queens

Blade Breaker
DB109440 16 hours 56 minutes
by Victoria Aveyard
read by Natalie Naudus
"Dom, a grieving immortal, strives to fulfill a broken oath. Sorasa, an outcast assassin, faces her past when it returns with sharpened teeth. Valtik, an old sorceress, summons a mighty power. And Corayne, a pirate's daughter with an ancient magic in her blood, steps closer to becoming the hero she's destined to be. Together they must assemble an army to face Queen Erida and Taristan's wicked forces. But something deadly waits in the shadows, something that might consume the world before there's any hope for victory." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109440 Blade Breaker

Violet Made of Thorns
DB109503 11 hours 8 minutes
by Gina Chen
read by Emily Woo Zeller
"Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased--and not always true--divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he's crowned at the end of the summer--unless Violet does something about it. But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus's love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom--all depending on the prince's choice of future bride. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that's growing between her and Cyrus. Violet's wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can't change her fate. And as the boundary between hatred and love grows ever thinner with the prince, Violet must untangle a wicked web of deceit in order to save herself and the kingdom--or doom them all." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109503 Violet Made of Thorns

Obsidian
DB108605 10 hours 58 minutes
by Sarah J. Daley
read by Dolly Lewis
"Shade Nox is the only witch in a land of wizards--a fiend, a rogue, a wanted criminal. Defying those who think her an abomination, Shade wears her tattoos openly and carries obsidian blades at her hips. For years, she has protected the outcast clans who wander the blighted Wastes, but the land is growing more unstable and her blades are no longer enough. To save her people, Shade vows to raise a Veil of protection--a feat not accomplished in over a hundred years. But the magical Veils are said to belong to the Brotherhood church; if she succeeds in raising one, it will expose their lies. They swear to see her obliterated first. Treading a dangerous path where allies can be as deceitful as enemies, and where demons lurk in the shadows, Shade chases a vision which could lead to her people's salvation--or her own destruction." -- Provided by publisher. Some explicit descriptions of sex. 2022.
DB108605 Obsidian

Comeuppance Served Cold
DB108360 5 hours 55 minutes
by Marion Deeds
read by Sandra Murphy
"A respected magus and city leader intent on criminalizing Seattle's most vulnerable magickers hires a young woman as a lady's companion to curb his rebellious daughter's outrageous behavior. The widowed owner of a speakeasy encounters an opportunity to make her husband's murderer pay while she tries to keep her shapeshifter brother safe. A notorious thief slips into the city to complete a delicate and dangerous job that will leave chaos in its wake. One thing is for certain--comeuppance, eventually, waits for everyone." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. 2022.
DB108360 Comeuppance Served Cold

The Mark of the Tala
DB91893 11 hours 7 minutes
by Jeffe Kennedy
read by Cris Dukehart
Andromeda, middle daughter of the high king, prefers the company of her horse to being at court. When the king of a land of shapeshifters arrives and claims Andi as his queen, she realizes her father hid the truth of her heritage, leaving her loyalties divided. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2015.
DB91893 The Mark of the Tala

Bryony and Roses
DB109041 5 hours 54 minutes
by T. Kingfisher
read by Justine Eyre
"Bryony and her sisters have come down in the world. Their merchant father died trying to reclaim his fortune and left them to eke out a living in a village far from their home in the city. But when Bryony is caught in a snowstorm and takes refuge in an abandoned manor, she stumbles into a house full of dark enchantments. Is the Beast that lives there her captor or a fellow prisoner? Is the house her enemy or her ally? And why are roses blooming out of season in the courtyard? Armed only with gardening shears and her wits, Bryony must untangle the secrets of the house before she--or the Beast--are swallowed by them." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2015.
DB109041 Bryony and Roses

Paladin's Hope
DB109070 9 hours 8 minutes
by T. Kingfisher
read by Guy Williams
"Piper is a lich-doctor, a physician who works among the dead, determining causes of death for the city guard's investigations. It's a peaceful, if solitary profession...until the day when he's called to the river to examine the latest in a series of mysterious bodies, mangled by some unknown force. Galen is a paladin of a dead god, lost to holiness and no longer entirely sane. He has long since given up on any hope of love. But when the two men and a brave gnole constable are drawn into the web of the mysterious killer, it's Galen's job to protect Piper from the traps that await them. He's just not sure if he can protect Piper from the most dangerous threat of all...." -- Provided by publisher. Some violence, some strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2021.
DB109070 Paladin's Hope

The Novice: Summoner, Book 1
DB109207 10 hours 30 minutes
by Taran Matharu
read by James Langton
"When blacksmith apprentice Fletcher discovers that he has the ability to summon demons from another world, he travels to Adept Military Academy. There the gifted are trained in the art of summoning. Fletcher is put through grueling training as a battlemage to fight in the Hominum Empire's war against orcs. He must tread carefully while training alongside children of powerful nobles. The power hungry, those seeking alliances, and the fear of betrayal surround him. Fletcher finds himself caught in the middle of powerful forces, with only his demon Ignatius for help. As the pieces on the board maneuver for supremacy, Fletcher must decide where his loyalties lie. The fate of an empire is in his hands." -- Provided by publisher. Some violence and some strong language. For senior high and older readers. 2015.
DB109207 The Novice: Summoner, Book 1

A River Enchanted
DB109028 14 hours 16 minutes
by Rebecca Ross
read by Ruth Urquhart
"Jack Tamerlaine hasn't stepped foot on Cadence in ten long years, content to study music at the mainland university. But when young girls start disappearing from the isle, Jack is summoned home to help find them. Enchantments run deep on Cadence: gossip is carried by the wind, plaid shawls can be as strong as armor, and the smallest cut of a knife can instill fathomless fear. The capricious spirits that rule the isle by fire, water, earth, and wind find mirth in the lives of the humans who call the land home. Adaira, heiress of the east and Jack's childhood enemy, knows the spirits only answer to a bard's music, and she hopes Jack can draw them forth by song, enticing them to return the missing girls. As Jack and Adaira reluctantly work together, they find they make better allies than rivals as their partnership turns into something more. But with each passing song, it becomes apparent the trouble with the spirits is far more sinister than they first expected, and an older, darker secret about Cadence lurks beneath the surface, threatening to undo them all." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109028 A River Enchanted

Cast in Flame: The Chronicles of Elantra Series, Book 10
DB109527 19 hours 38 minutes
by Michelle Sagara
read by Kathryn Markey
"Any day that starts with dragon arguments is going to be bad. Kaylin returned from the West March in one piece. Now that piece is fraying. She's not at home in the Imperial Palace--and she never intends to be. All she wants is normal garden-variety criminals and a place of her own. Of course, normal in her new life involves a dragon as a roommate, but she can handle that. She can't as easily handle the new residents to the city she polices, because one of them is Nightshade's younger brother. On a night when she should be talking to landlords in perfectly normal buildings, she's called to the fief--by Teela. A small family disagreement has become a large, complicated problem: Castle Nightshade's latent magic is waking. And it's not the only thing." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some violence. 2014.
DB109527 Cast in Flame: The Chronicles of Elantra Series, Book 10

Cast in Flight: The Chronicles of Elantra Series, Book 12
DB109529 20 hours 9 minutes
by Michelle Sagara
read by Kathryn Markey
"Private Kaylin Neya already has Dragons and Barrani as roommates. Adding one injured, flightless Aerian to her household should be trivial. Sure, the Aerian is Sergeant Moran dar Carafel, but Kaylin's own sergeant is a Leontine, the definition of growly and fanged. She can handle one Aerian. But when a walk to the Halls of Law becomes a street-shattering magical assassination attempt on the sergeant, Kaylin discovers that it's not the guest who's going to be the problem: it's all of the people who suddenly want Moran dar Carafel dead. And though Moran refuses to tell her why she's being targeted, Kaylin is determined to discover her secret and protect her at all costs--even if keeping Moran safe means dealing with Aerian politics, angry dragons and something far more sinister." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some violence. 2016.
DB109529 Cast in Flight: The Chronicles of Elantra Series, Book 12

Daughter of the Moon Goddess: Celestial Kingdom Series, Book 1
DB109445 15 hours 5 minutes
by Sue Lynn Tan
read by Natalie Naudus
"Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin's magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind. Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor's son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince. To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream--striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos. Daughter of the Moon Goddess begins an enchanting duology which weaves ancient Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of immortals and magic, of loss and sacrifice--where love vies with honor, dreams are fraught with betrayal, and hope emerges triumphant." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109445 Daughter of the Moon Goddess: Celestial Kingdom Series, Book 1

Empire of Grass
DB109250 36 hours 36 minutes
by Tad Williams
read by Andrew Wincott
"The kingdoms of Osten Ard have been at peace for decades, but now, the threat of a new war grows to nightmarish proportions. Simon and Miriamele, royal husband and wife, face danger from every side. Their allies in Hernystir have made a pact with the dreadful Queen of the Norns to allow her armies to cross into mortal lands. The ancient, powerful nation of Nabban is on the verge of bloody civil war, and the fierce nomads of the Thrithings grasslands have begun to mobilize, united by superstitious fervor and their age-old hatred of the city-dwellers. But as the countries and peoples of the High Ward bicker among themselves, battle, bloodshed, and dark magics threaten to pull civilizations to pieces. And over it all looms the mystery of the Witchwood Crown, the deadly puzzle that Simon, Miriamele, and their allies must solve if they wish to survive. But as the kingdoms of Osten Ard are torn apart by fear and greed, a few individuals will fight for their own lives and destinies--not yet aware that the survival of everything depends on them." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.
DB109250 Empire of Grass

Bloody Acquisitions: Fred, the Vampire Accountant Series, Book 3
DB109464 8 hours 12 minutes
by Annie Wu
read by Carolyn Kashner
"With a thriving parahuman accounting practice, a steady relationship, and a circle of trusted friends, Fred's undead life has become more enjoyable than his normal one ever was. Unfortunately, it also seems that he's no longer the only vampire to appreciate the up-and-coming city of Winslow, Colorado. A new clan of vampires is moving in, and they aren't well known for tolerating outsiders in their territory. Now, Fred must cope with the growing presence--and threat--of other vampires even as he struggles to keep up with his business's demands and make time for his friends. Between hidden parahuman towns, crazed vampire hunters, quarreling mages, and the world's least subtle spy, it will take all of Fred's wiles just to keep his head above water. And as the new clan sinks their fangs deeper and deeper into his city, the undead accountant is faced with a choice between two equally unappealing options: flee his home, or stand against an entire clan of fellow vampires. Performed by Christopher Walker, Nora Achrati, Marni Penning, Yasmin Tuazon, Shanta Parasuraman, Steven Carpenter, Carolyn Kashner, Christopher Graybill, Anthony Palmini, Laura C Harris, Danny Gavigan, Matthew Bassett, Scott McCormick, Alejandro Ruiz, Bradley Smith, Colleen Delany, Holly Adams, Michael John Casey, Terence Aselford and Zeke Alton." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109464 Bloody Acquisitions: Fred, the Vampire Accountant Series, Book 3

General

New Animal
DB108839 5 hours 59 minutes
by Ella Baxter
read by Mare Trevathan
"Amelia Aurelia is approaching thirty and her closest relationships--other than her mother--are through her dating apps. She works at the family mortuary business as a cosmetic mortician with her eccentric step-father and older brother, whose throuple's current preoccupation is with what type of snake to adopt. When Amelia's affectionate mother passes away without warning, she is left without anchor. Fleeing the funeral, she seeks solace with her birth-father in Tasmania and stumbles into the local BDSM community, where her riotous attempts to belong are met with confusion, shock, and empathy. Hilarious and heartfelt, New Animal reveals hard-won truths as Amelia struggles to find her place in the world without her mother, with the help of her two well-intentioned fathers and adventures at the kink club." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language, explicit descriptions of sex and some violence. 2022.
DB108839 New Animal

A Confederate General from Big Sur, Dreaming of Babylon, and The Hawkline Monster
DB108595 10 hours 51 minutes
by Richard Brautigan
read by Seth Garcia
"This omnibus edition collects three classic novels by Richard Brautigan, "the counterculture's Mark Twain" (New York Times). A Confederate General from Big Sur. The year is 1957 in a California that was a preview of things to come in America--the dawn of lifestyles that were eventually to have a profound and disturbing effect on our culture. Dreaming of Babylon: A Private Eye Novel 1942. You are in San Francisco, and you need a private eye. Nobody's left but C. Card. And when you hire C. Card, you have scraped the bottom of the private-eye barrel as revealed in the fast, funny, slam-bang adventures of the seedy, not-too-bright detective. The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western. The time is 1902, the setting eastern Oregon. Magic Child, a fifteen-year-old Indigenous girl, wanders into the wrong bordello looking for the right men to kill the monster that lives in the ice caves under the basement of Miss Hawkline's yellow house--sparking off a series of wild, witty, and bizarre encounters." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language, some violence and some explicit descriptions of sex. 1991.
DB108595 A Confederate General from Big Sur, Dreaming of Babylon, and The Hawkline Monster

Dolly City
DB109534 5 hours 2 minutes
by Orly Castel-Bloom
read by Gabriella Cavallero
"In the midst of a futuristic-primitive metropolis, the accumulation of all our urban nightmares, Doctor Dolly (certified by the University of Katmandu) finds a newborn baby in a black plastic bag, and decides to become a mother. Overcome by unfamiliar maternal urges, Dolly dispenses with her private lab of rare diseases and turns all her surgical passion onto her son. Ceaselessly cutting and sewing, Dolly is the scalpel-wielding version of the all-too-familiar Jewish Mother archetype, forever operating upon her son with destructive, invasive love. In this grotesque satire of war and the defensive measures taken to survive it, Orly Castel-Bloom, one of Israel's most provocative and original writers, turns her own scalpel upon that most holy of institutions, the myth of motherhood--and its implications in the life of a nation." -- Provided by publisher. Translated from the 1992 Hebrew edition. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2010.
DB109534 Dolly City

The Millstone
DB109515 6 hours 57 minutes
by Margaret Drabble
read by Erin Jones
"In a newly swinging London, Rosamund Stacey indulges in a premarital sexual encounter--and soon thereafter finds herself pregnant. Despite her fierce independence and academic brilliance, Rosamund is in fact naïve and unworldly, and the choices before her are terrifying. But in the perfection and helplessness of her baby she finds an unconditional love she has never known before--and as she navigates a situation still considered scandalous in her circles, she may discover that motherhood and independence need not be mutually exclusive." -- Provided by publisher. 1998.
DB109515 The Millstone

Call Me Cassandra
DB109191 6 hours 30 minutes
by Marcial Gala
read by Andy Pyle
"Ten-year-old Rauli lives in a world that is often hostile. His older brother is violent; his philandering father doesn't understand him; his intelligence and sensitivity do not endear him to the other children at school. He loves to read, especially Greek myths, but in Cuba in the 1970s, novels and gods can be dangerous. Despite the signs that warn Rauli to repress and fear what he is, he knows three things to be true: First, that he was born in the wrong body. Second, that he will die, aged eighteen, as a soldier in the Cuban intervention in Angola. And third, that he is the reincarnation of the Trojan princess Cassandra. Moving between Rauli's childhood and adolescence, between the Angolan battlefield, the Cuban city of Cienfuegos, and the shores of ancient Troy, Marcial Gala's Call Me Cassandra tells of the search for identity amid the collapse of Cuba's utopian dreams. Burdened with knowledge of tragedies yet to come, Rauli nonetheless strives to know himself. Lyrical and gritty, heartbreaking and luminous, Rauli's is the story of the inexorable pull of destiny." -- Provided by publisher. Translated from the 2019 Spanish edition. Strong language, some violence and some descriptions of sex. 2022.
DB109191 Call Me Cassandra

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris & Mrs. Harris Goes to New York
DB109201 11 hours 25 minutes
by Paul Gallico
read by Terry Donnelly
"The delightful, uplifting story of Mrs. Harris, an ordinary woman whose life is transformed by one beautiful dress-now a motion picture starring Lesley Manville and Isabelle Huppert-and its sequel, set in New York. Mrs. Harris is a salt-of-the-earth London charlady who cheerfully cleans the houses of the rich. One day, while tidying Lady Dant's wardrobe, she comes across the most beautiful thing she has ever seen in her life-a Dior dress. In all the years of her drab and humble existence, she's never seen anything as magical as the dress before her and she's never wanted anything so badly. Determined to make her dream come true, Mrs. Harris scrimps and saves until one day, after three long, uncomplaining years, she finally has enough money to go to Paris. When she arrives at the House of Dior, Mrs. Harris has little idea of how her life is about to be turned upside down and how many other lives she will transform forever. Always kind, always cheery, and always winsome, the indomitable Mrs. Harris takes Paris by storm and learns one of life's greatest lessons along the way. This treasure from the 1950s reintroduces the irrepressible Mrs. Harris, part charlady, part fairy godmother, whose adventures take her from her humble London roots to the heights of glamour." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language. 2010.
DB109201 Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris & Mrs. Harris Goes to New York

Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies
DB109822 12 hours 25 minutes
by Maddie Mortimer
read by Tamsin Greig
"Lia, her husband Harry, and their beloved daughter, Iris, are a precisely balanced family of three. With Iris struggling to navigate the social tightrope of early adolescence, their tender home is a much-needed refuge. But when a sudden diagnosis threatens to derail each of their lives, the secrets of Lia's past come rushing into the present, and the world around them begins to transform. Deftly guided through time, we discover the people who shaped Lia's youth; from her deeply religious mother to her troubled first love. In turn, each will take their place in the shifting landscape of Lia's body; at the center of which dances a gleeful narrator, learning her life from the inside, growing more emboldened by the day." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109822 Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies

Exercises in Style
DB108317 3 hours 0 minutes
by Raymond Queneau
read by Peter Holdway
"A new edition of a French modernist classic - a Parisian scene told ninety-nine different ways - with new material written in homage by the likes of Jonathan Lethem, Rivka Galchen, and many more. On a crowded bus at midday, Raymond Queneau observes one man accusing another of jostling him deliberately. When a seat is vacated, the first man appropriates it. Later, in another part of town, Queneau sees the man being advised by a friend to sew a new button on his overcoat. Exercises in Style--Queneau's experimental masterpiece and a hallmark book of the Oulipo literary group--retells this unexceptional tale ninety-nine times, employing the sonnet and the alexandrine, onomatopoeia and Cockney. An "Abusive" chapter heartily deplores the events; "Opera English" lends them grandeur. Queneau once said that of all his books, this was the one he most wished to see translated. He offered Barbara Wright his "heartiest congratulations," adding: "I have always thought that nothing is untranslatable. Here is new proof." To celebrate the 65th anniversary of the 1947 French publication of Exercises de Style, New Directions has asked several writers to contribute new exercises as a tribute. Tantalizing examples include Jonathan Lethem's "Cyberpunk," Harry Mathew's "Phonetic Eros," and Frederic Tuten's "Beatnik" exercises. This edition also retains Barbara Wright's original introduction and reminiscence of working on this book--a translation that in 2008 was ranked first on the Author's Society's list of "The 50 Outstanding Translations of the Last 50 Years."" -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. 1981.
DB108317 Exercises in Style

Gothics

What Souls Are Made Of: A Wuthering Heights Remix
DB109096 8 hours 23 minutes
by Tasha Suri
read by Becca Hirani
"Two lost souls cut off from their heritage find solace in each other in this remix of the gothic novel Wuthering Heights." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109096 What Souls Are Made Of: A Wuthering Heights Remix

Historical Fiction

Only Yesterday
DB108606 27 hours 32 minutes
by S.Y. Agnon
read by Catherine Byers
"When Israeli Nobel Laureate S. Y. Agnon published the novel Only Yesterday in 1945, it quickly became recognized as a major work of world literature, not only for its vivid historical reconstruction of Israel's founding society. The book tells a seemingly simple tale about a man who immigrates to Palestine with the Second Aliya--the several hundred idealists who returned between 1904 and 1914 to work the Hebrew soil as in Biblical times and revive Hebrew culture. This epic novel also engages the reader in a fascinating network of meanings, contradictions, and paradoxes all leading to the question, what, if anything, controls human existence? Seduced by Zionist slogans, young Isaac Kumer imagines the Land of Israel filled with the financial, social, and erotic opportunities that were denied him, the son of an impoverished shopkeeper, in Poland. Once there, he cannot find the agricultural work he anticipated. Instead Isaac happens upon house-painting jobs as he moves from secular, Zionist Jaffa, where the ideological fervor and sexual freedom are alien to him, to ultra-orthodox, anti-Zionist Jerusalem. While some of his Zionist friends turn capitalist, becoming successful merchants, his own life remains adrift and impoverished in a land torn between idealism and practicality, a place that is at once homeland and diaspora. Eventually he marries a religious woman in Jerusalem, after his worldly girlfriend in Jaffa rejects him. Led astray by circumstances, Isaac always ends up in the place opposite of where he wants to be, but why? The text soars to Surrealist-Kafkaesque dimensions when, in a playful mode, Isaac drips paint on a stray dog, writing Crazy Dog on his back. Causing panic wherever he roams, the dog takes over the story, until, after enduring persecution for so long without understanding why, he really does go mad and bites Isaac. The dog has been interpreted as everything from the embodiment of Exile to a daemonic force, and becomes an unforgettable character in a book about the death of God, the deception of discourse, the power of suppressed eroticism, and the destiny of a people depicted in all its darkness and promise." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some violence. 2000.
DB108606 Only Yesterday

Keep the Home Fires Burning
DB110013 15 hours 45 minutes
by S. Block
read by Terry Donnelly
"In Britain's darkest hour, an extraordinary community of women strives to protect the Home Front. When an enemy plane crashes in the village, every one of their lives will change forever... Return to Great Paxford or join us for your very first visit. Join Frances Barden, Sarah Collingborne, Pat Simms, Miriam Brindsley and the women of the Great Paxford Women's Institute as calamity hits their beloved village and they prove once again that when women work together they can surmount almost any challenge. Frances struggles as her factory is shut down and her husband's secret child arrives at her door. Pat received a respite when her abusive husband went to cover the war, but now he's home. Newlyweds Teresa and Nick come under tremendous pressure due to the secret Teresa hides. Meanwhile, the life of the Campbell family is turned on its head as a serious illness runs its course, and Alison finds new purpose in helping the influx of strangers to the village.Through it all the Women's Institute provides support and camaraderie. But is their combined strength enough to get them through the war?" -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. 2018.
DB110013 Keep the Home Fires Burning

The King without a Kingdom: Book Seven of The Accursed Kings
DB109061 11 hours 40 minutes
by Maurice Druon
read by Andy Pyle
"The reign of the Capetian kings has ended and John II, 'The Good', second of the Valois dynasty, has taken the throne. Under his leadership the Hundred Years War, one of the longest and bloodiest conflicts in history, escalates and England and France begin to tear each other apart. Cardinal Prigord, narrating the drama, shows us a monarch as vain and cruel as he is incompetent. Under his turbulent reign, warring factions plunder the land, famine threatens the people and the Black Death spreads far and wide. France is bleeding to death around the new king." -- Provided by publisher. Translated from the 1977 French edition. Some violence and some strong language. 2015.
DB109061 The King without a Kingdom: Book Seven of The Accursed Kings

The Lily and the Lion: Book Six of The Accursed Kings
DB109060 11 hours 57 minutes
by Maurice Druon
read by Gregory Maupin
"Charles IV is dead, fulfilling the curse of the Templars once and for all. This leaves the path to the throne open for Robert of Artois to place his cousin, Philippe of Valois, upon it. Having committed fraud, perjury and murder in the name of the new king, Robert expects to receive a title and his full reward. But the days of betrayal are far from over and Robert is banished to England. In the land of France's enemies vengeance sparks fresh conflict as King Edward III and his new ally prepare for war. As swords are sharpened the lion wakes and a pretender threatens France once more...." -- Provided by publisher. Translated from the 1960 French edition. Some violence and some strong language. 2021.
DB109060 The Lily and the Lion: Book Six of The Accursed Kings

The She Wolf: Book Five of The Accursed Kings
DB109059 13 hours 6 minutes
by Maurice Druon
read by Gregory Maupin
"Charles IV is now king of France and his sister is Edward II of England's queen. Having been imprisoned by Edward as leader of the rebellious English barons, Roger Mortimer escapes to France, where he joins the war against the English Aquitaine. But it is his love affair with Isabella, the 'She-Wolf of France', who has come seemingly to negotiate a treaty of peace that seals his fate..." -- Provided by publisher. Translated from the 1955 French edition. 2021.
DB109059 The She Wolf: Book Five of The Accursed Kings

The French House
DB109183 11 hours 16 minutes
by Helen Fripp
read by Jill Fox
"Reims, France, 1805. Looking back at the crumbling house hidden away in the vineyards, the sound of her daughter's laughter carrying on the breeze, Nicole plucks a perfect red grape and is reminded her life will never be the same. With her husband gone, her troubles are hers alone.... For grieving Nicole Clicquot, saving the vineyards her husband left behind is her one chance to keep a roof over her head and provide a future for her little girl. She ignores the gossips who insist the fields are no place for a woman. But one day, buying fresh croissants at the boulangerie, Nicole is shocked to hear a rumour about her husband. They say he died with a terrible secret. One that brings disgrace on Nicole and turns the whole town against her. Heartbroken, her reputation in tatters, and full of questions no one can answer, Nicole turns to her husband's oldest friend, travelling merchant Louis. His warm smile and kind advice seem to melt her troubles away. And as they taste her first golden wine of the season and look out over the endless rolling hills, Nicole starts to believe she can turn her fortunes around and be welcomed back into the local community. But when Louis avoids her after a long trip abroad, Nicole sees he has secrets of his own.... And just as she doubts if he's on her side, she realizes how her feelings for him had grown. Desperately torn between her head and her heart, Nicole works day and night on a plan for her future. But to save her home and her little daughter from ruin, she must risk everything...." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language. 2021
DB109183 The French House

This Rebel Heart
DB109031 11 hours 36 minutes
by Katherine Locke
read by Steven Jay Cohen
"Csilla has felt protected by the Duna river her entire life, and especially during the Holocaust of World War II, but that magic seems to have broken when Communists took control of Hungary. When her parents are killed by the secret police, Csilla's deep feelings of betrayal and disconnection cause her to plan her escape from her unrecognizable homeland. They are posthumously exonerated, however, sparking a series of protests that make her reconsider whether she can leave it all behind." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109031 This Rebel Heart

When I Was Yours
DB107961 13 hours 3 minutes
by Lizzie Page
read by Laura Giannarelli
England, 1939. As war breaks out, hundreds of children are evacuated to the countryside to keep them safe from the bombs raining down on the cities. Seven-year-old Pearl is sent to live with Vivienne, a woman afraid she has no more love to give after suffering years of disappointments in her marriage. Some strong language. 2020.
DB107961 When I Was Yours

Lady of the Eternal City
DB96195 20 hours 31 minutes
by Kate Quinn
read by Elizabeth Wiley
Rome, 118 AD. Sabina, of Empress of the Seven Hills (DB95948), is now wife to Hadrian and Empress of Rome. She finds herself torn between Hadrian and her first love, Vix. Vix's son Antinous has caught Hadrian's eye, and Sabina and Vix work to save the empire. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2015.
DB96195 Lady of the Eternal City

Camp Nine: A Novel
DB109241 7 hours 22 minutes
by Vivienne Schiffer
read by Lindsey Pierce
"On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the U.S. military to ban anyone from certain areas of the country, with primary focus on the West Coast. Eventually the order was used to imprison 120,000 people of Japanese descent in incarceration camps such as the Rohwer Relocation Center in remote Desha County, Arkansas. This time of fear and prejudice (the U.S. government formally apologized for the relocations in 1982) and the Arkansas Delta are the setting for Camp Nine. The novel's narrator, Chess Morton, lives in tiny Rook Arkansas. Her days are quiet and secluded until the appearance of a "relocation" center built for what was, in effect, the imprisonment of thousands of Japanese Americans. Chess's life becomes intertwined with those of two young internees and an American soldier mysteriously connected to her mother's past. As Chess watches the struggles and triumphs of these strangers and sees her mother seek justice for the people who briefly and involuntarily came to call the Arkansas Delta their home, she discovers surprising and disturbing truths about her family's painful past." -- Provided by publisher. Some violence and some strong language. 2011.
DB109241 Camp Nine: A Novel

The Good Fight
DB91700 8 hours 1 minutes
by Danielle Steel
read by Dan John MIller
In the 1960s, Meredith McKenzie is swept into the fight for civil rights and the end of the Vietnam War. The child of a lawyer who prosecuted Nazi war criminals, Meredith is determined to become a lawyer as well, despite her father's objections. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
DB91700 The Good Fight

Frontier Wolf
DB109185 8 hours 51 minutes
by Rosemary Sutcliff
read by Alec Volz
"As punishment for his poor judgment, a young, inexperienced Roman army officer is sent to Northern England to assume the command of a motley group known as the Frontier Wolves." -- Provided by publisher. 2013.
DB109185 Frontier Wolf

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin
DB109091 4 hours 28 minutes
by Kip Wilson
read by Juliette Goglia
"On her eighteenth birthday, Hilde leaves her orphanage in 1930s Berlin, and heads out into the world to discover her place in it. But finding a job is hard, at least until she stumbles into Caf‚ Lila, a vibrant cabaret full of expressive customers. Rosa, one of the club's waitresses and performers, immediately takes Hilde under her wing. As the caf‚ denizens slowly embrace Hilde, and she embraces them in turn, she discovers her voice and her own blossoming feelings for Rosa. But Berlin is in turmoil. Between the elections, protests in the streets, worsening antisemitism and anti-homosexual sentiment, and the beginning seeds of unrest in Caf‚ Lila itself, Hilde will have to decide what's best for her future and what it means to love a place on the cusp of war." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109091 The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin

Human Relationships

Azar on Fire
DB109862 9 hours 16 minutes
by Olivia Abtahi
read by Alex McKenna
"Fourteen-year-old Azar Rossi sets out to find her voice and win her local Battle of the Bands contest." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109862 Azar on Fire

Vinyl Moon
DB109034 5 hours 0 minutes
by Mahogany L. Browne
read by Bahni Turpin
"When Darius told Angel he loved her, she believed him. But five weeks after the incident, Angel finds herself in Brooklyn, far from her family, from him, and from the California life she has known. Angel feels out of sync with her new neighborhood. At school, she can't shake the feeling everyone knows what happened--and that it was her fault. The only place that makes sense is Ms. G's class. There, Angel's classmates share their own stories of pain, joy, and fortitude. And as Angel becomes immersed in her revolutionary literature course, the words from novels like The Bluest Eye and Push speak to her and begin to heal the wounds of her past." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109034 Vinyl Moon

An Island Wedding: A Novel
DB109296 12 hours 29 minutes
by Jenny Colgan
read by Eilidh Beaton
"On the little Scottish island of Mure--halfway between Scotland and Norway--Flora MacKenzie and her fianc‚ Joel are planning the smallest of "sweetheart weddings," a high summer celebration surrounded only by those very dearest to them. Not everyone on the island is happy about being excluded, though. The temperature rises even further when beautiful Olivia MacDonald--who left Mure ten years ago for bigger and brighter things--returns with a wedding planner in tow. Her fiancee‚ has oodles of family money, and Olivia is determined to throw the biggest, most extravagant, most Instagrammable wedding possible. And she wants to do it at Flora's hotel, the same weekend as Flora's carefully planned micro-wedding. As the summer solstice approaches, can Flora handle everyone else's Happy Ever Afters--and still get her own?" -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109296 An Island Wedding: A Novel

The Black Girls Left Standing
DB109040 8 hours 46 minutes
by Juliana Goodman
read by Ariel Blake
"Sixteen-year-old Beau Willet has dreams of being an artist and one day leaving the Chicago projects she's grown up in. But after her older sister, Katia, is killed by an off-duty police officer, Beau knows she has to clear her sister's name by finding the only witness to the murder; Katia's no-good boyfriend, Jordan, who has gone missing. If she doesn't find him and tell the world what really happened, Katia's death will be ignored, like the deaths of so many other Black women who are wrongfully killed. With the help of her friend, Sonnet, Beau sets up a Twitter account to gather anonymous tips. But the more that Beau finds out about her sister's death, the more danger she finds herself in. And with a new relationship developing with her childhood friend, Champion, and the struggle to keep her family together, Beau is soon in way over her head. How much is she willing to risk to clear her sister's name and make sure she's not forgotten?" -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109040 The Black Girls Left Standing

Smash It!
DB101674 9 hours 18 minutes
by Francina Simone
read by Zakiya Young
Challenging herself to overcome long-held insecurities at the beginning of her junior year, Liv lands an unexpected role in her high school's musical production of Othello that helps launch her journey of self-empowerment. Unrated. Strong language and descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2020.
DB101674 Smash It!

Boys of the Beast
DB108769 5 hours 33 minutes
by Monica Zepeda
read by Shawn Hertel
"Three teenage boy cousins on a road trip through California and the Southwest come to terms with truths about their families and themselves." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB108769 Boys of the Beast

My Eyes Are Up Here
DB108721 8 hours 35 minutes
by Laura Zimmermann
read by Kristen DiMercurio
"If Greer Walsh could only live inside her head, life would be easier. She'd be able to focus on excelling at math or negotiating peace talks between her best friend and everyone else. She wouldn't spend any time worrying about being the only Kennedy High student whose breasts are bigger than her head. But you can't play volleyball inside your head. Or go to the pool. Or have confusingly date-like encounters with the charming new boy. You need an actual body for all of those things. And Greer is entirely uncomfortable in hers." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2020.
DB108721 My Eyes Are up Here

LGBT Themes

The Kingdom of Sand
DB109022 8 hours 35 minutes
by Andrew Holleran
read by David Pittu
"The Kingdom of Sand is a poignant tale of desire and dread--Andrew Holleran's first new book in sixteen years. The nameless narrator is a gay man who moved to Florida to look after his aging parents--during the height of the AIDS epidemic--and has found himself unable to leave after their deaths. With gallows humor, he chronicles the indignities of growing old in a small town. At the heart of the novel is the story of his friendship with Earl, whom he met cruising at the local boat ramp. For the last twenty years, he has been visiting Earl to watch classic films together and critique the neighbors. Earl is the only person in town with whom he can truly be himself. Now Earl's health is failing, and our increasingly misanthropic narrator must contend with the fact that once Earl dies, he will be completely alone. He distracts himself with sexual encounters at the video porn store and visits to Walgreens. All the while, he shares reflections on illness and death that are at once funny and heartbreaking. Holleran's first novel, Dancer from the Dance, is widely regarded as a classic work of gay literature. Reviewers have described his subsequent books as beautiful, exhilarating, seductive, haunting, and bold. The Kingdom of Sand
displays all of Holleran's considerable gifts; it's an elegy to sex and a stunningly honest exploration of loneliness and the endless need for human connection, especially as we count down our days." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109022 The Kingdom of Sand

And They Lived...
DB109293 10 hours 6 minutes
by Steven Salvatore
read by Kirt Graves
"Chase Arthur is a hopeless romantic, but he's also struggling to figure out his gender identity and recover from an eating disorder. When Chase starts his freshman year of college, he has to navigate being away from home and missing his sister, finding his squad, and will have to learn to love--and be enough for--himself, while discovering what it means to truly live." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109293 And They Lived...

Love and Lotus Blossoms
DB108319 14 hours 33 minutes
by Anne Shade
read by Adrean Rivers
"Janesse Crawford is living the dream. Married to a man who loves her in the beautiful home he built for her with his own hands, she has raised two wonderful children and has a successful career doing what she loves. But when Janesse's past comes rushing back in the form of sexy and bold fashion stylist Maya Lawson, the lie she has been living for the past thirty years comes crashing in on her. She let Maya get away years before, but her second chance at true love will cost her the picture-perfect life she's spent a lifetime building. It's not too late for Janesse to break through the mud of her life to blossom into the woman she's always wished to be for the love she's always dreamed of. But her path to self-acceptance will risk everything--and possibly everyone--she loves." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. 2021.
DB108319 Love and Lotus Blossoms

Mystery and Detective

Five Pieces of Jade
DB109074 8 hours 34 minutes
by John Ball
read by Joe Wilson
"On the carpet of a quietly expensive house in Pasadena, California, lies the body of Wang Fu-sen, an elderly Chinese importer of rare jades. In a rough semicircle on each side of Mr. Wang's head rest four pieces of jade; protruding obscenely from his heart is a fifth: the Ya-Chang ritual knife. Who murdered Wang Fu-sen? Was it Yumeko, the beautiful ainoko--half-black, half-Japanese girl who lived with Mr. Wang? Or Johnny Wu, the rich Chinese-American, or any other of Mr. Wang's customers? Or a political enemy from far-off China? All this and more must be solved by Virgil Tibbs, the cool, skilled, black homicide detective of the Pasadena police force, who swiftly finds himself in the middle of a murderous situation involving the deadliest kinds of hard drugs--and agents from Red China--all against the exotic setting of the world of jade. Taut, dramatic, brilliantly woven, Five Pieces of Jade
is Virgil Tibbs' most suspenseful adventure since In the Heat of the Night. John Ball has served on the editorial staff of Fortune magazine, as assistant curator of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, music and recordings columnist for the New York World-Telegram, and director of public relations at the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences. In 1963 he began a full-time writing career, his work including In the Heat of the Night (adapted for a motion picture which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, 1967), The Cool Cottontail, Miss One Thousand Spring Blossoms, Johnny Get Your Gun, Last Plane Out, Dragon Hotel, and The First Team." -- Provided by publisher. 1972.
DB109074 Five Pieces of Jade

The Poisoned Chocolates Case
DB108326 8 hours 10 minutes
by Anthony Berkeley
read by Michael Russotto
"Sir Eustace is a cad of the first water, with a specialty in other men's wives, and the list of people who might want to do him in could fill a London phone book. But which of them actually sent the chocolates with their nasty hidden payload? Scotland Yard (we love saying this) is baffled. Enter the Crime Circle, a group of society intellectuals with a shared conviction in their ability to succeed where the police have failed. Eventually, each member will produce a tightly reasoned solution to the Case of the Poisoned Chocolates, but each of these solutions will identify a different murderer. First published in 1929, The Poisoned Chocolates Case is both a classic of the Golden Age of mystery fiction, and one of the great puzzle-mysteries of all time." -- Provided by publisher. 2010.
DB108326 The Poisoned Chocolates Case

Counterfeit
DB108938 7 hours 24 minutes
by Kirstin Chen
read by Catherine Ho
"Money can't buy happiness... but it can buy a decent fake. Ava Wong has always played it safe. As a strait-laced, rule-abiding Chinese American lawyer with a successful surgeon as a husband, a young son, and a beautiful home--she's built the perfect life. But beneath this fa‡ade, Ava's world is crumbling: her marriage is falling apart, her expensive law degree hasn't been used in years, and her toddler's tantrums are pushing her to the breaking point. Enter Winnie Fang, Ava's enigmatic college roommate from Mainland China, who abruptly dropped out under mysterious circumstances. Now, twenty years later, Winnie is looking to reconnect with her old friend. But the shy, awkward girl Ava once knew has been replaced with a confident woman of the world, dripping in luxury goods, including a coveted Birkin in classic orange. The secret to her success? Winnie has developed an ingenious counterfeit scheme that involves importing near-exact replicas of luxury handbags and now she needs someone with a U.S. passport to help manage her business--someone who'd never be suspected of wrongdoing, someone like Ava. But when their spectacular success is threatened and Winnie vanishes once again, Ava is left to face the consequences. Swift, surprising, and sharply comic, Counterfeit is a stylish and feminist caper with a strong point of view and an axe to grind. Peering behind the curtain of the upscale designer storefronts and the Chinese factories where luxury goods are produced, Kirstin Chen interrogates the myth of the model minority through two unforgettable women determined to demand more from life." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB108938 Counterfeit

Hot and Sour Suspects
DB109058 7 hours 46 minutes
by Vivien Chien
read by Erin Jones
"At the Ho-Lee Noodle House, murder is on the menu. When Lana Lee's best friend, Megan Riley, asks her to help host a speed dating contest at Ho-Lee Noodle House, she doesn't see the harm in lending a hand. The night goes better than anticipated, and both Lana and Megan are beyond thrilled with the results. But before they can break out the champagne, Rina Su, fellow Asia Village shop owner and speed dating participant, calls to inform Lana that the date she's just matched with has been murdered. Under suspicion of foul play, Rina enlists Lana's help in finding out what really happened that night. Without hesitation, Lana begins to dig into the man in question. To her dismay, she quickly finds that Rina's date has a rather unsavory past. There's a long line of slighted women, angry neighbors, and perturbed co-workers--all of whom seem to have a motive. As Lana continues to spiral down the treacherous path of scorned lovers and mistreated acquaintances, she can't help but dwell on how quickly an innocent evening filled with hope and positivity could turn so sour. When the media gets in on the case, Lana must rush to find the killer before more dates turn deadly." -- Provided by publisher. Some violence and some strong language. 2022.
DB109058 Hot and Sour Suspects

Service of All the Dead
DB108825 7 hours 53 minutes
by Colin Dexter
read by Samuel West
"Service of All the Dead
is the fourth novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series. The sweet countenance of Reason greeted Morse serenely when he woke, and told him that it would be no bad idea to have a quiet look at the problem itself before galloping off to a solution. Chief Inspector Morse was alone among the congregation in suspecting continued unrest in the quiet parish of St Frideswide's. Most people could still remember the churchwarden's murder. A few could still recall the murderer's suicide. Now even the police had closed the case. Until a chance meeting among the tombstones reveals startling new evidence of a conspiracy to deceive . . . Service of All the Dead is followed by the fifth Inspector Morse book, The Dead of Jericho." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB108825 Service of All the Dead

Before It's Too Late: An FBI K-9 Novel
DB94236 8 hours 4 minutes
by Sara Driscoll
read by Angela Dawe
FBI Special Agent Meg Jennings and her search-and-rescue Labrador, Hawk, race against the clock. Somewhere in the Washington, DC, area, a woman lies helpless in a box beneath the earth--and her abductor's game is far from over. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2017.
DB94236 Before It's Too Late: An FBI K-9 Novel

The Cruel Stars of the Night
DB108334 12 hours 33 minutes
by Kjell Eriksson
read by Jill Fox
"The Cruel Stars of the Night
opens one snowy day when thirty-five-year-old Laura Hindersten goes to the police to report that her father, a local professor, is missing. Inspector Ann Lindell and her colleagues can find no motive for the man's disappearance. And when the corpses of two elderly men do turn up, neither of the dead men is the missing academic. Unexpectedly, the police get help from one of the professor's colleagues, who believes there is an astonishing link between the murders and the disappearance of Professor Hindersten. But as the pressure on Lindell increases dramatically, she is shocked to discover that the killer has many more diabolical schemes in store. Combining heart-pounding suspense with brilliant psychological insight, The Cruel Stars of the Night moves like a comet as it approaches the cliff-hanging climax. It is sure to win Kjell Eriksson a whole new galaxy of American fans." -- Provided by publisher. Violence, strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2017.
DB108334 The Cruel Stars of the Night

The Demon of Dakar
DB109107 13 hours 39 minutes
by Kjell Eriksson
read by Henry Strozier
"A rising star in Scandinavia and winner of the Swedish Crime Academy Award, Kjell Eriksson pens mysteries that chill and electrify a steadily growing legion of fans across Europe and beyond. A daunting murder investigation finds Ann Lindell and her colorful team tracing clues back to a local restaurant and its owner, a man concealing a dark past. But he's not the only person at the restaurant worthy of suspicion." -- Provided by publisher. Translated from the 2005 Swedish edition. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2008.
DB109107 The Demon of Dakar

Happy Are the Clean of Heart: A Father Blackie Ryan Story
DB109049 11 hours 27 minutes
by Andrew M. Greeley
read by Jared Zak
"The Fallen Star lay in a death-like coma, victim of an attack as mysterious as it was savage. Until violence interrupted her glittering career, she was a singer and actress adored by millions. But she held a very special, intimate place in the heart of Father Blackie Ryan, whose desperation to unmask her assailant proved the only force that could prevent the outbreak of a second, even more devastating tragedy." -- Provided by publisher. Violence and strong language. 1986.
DB109049 Happy Are the Clean of Heart: A Father Blackie Ryan Story

Presumed Puzzled: A Puzzle Lady Mystery
DB109054 8 hours 21 minutes
by Parnell Hall
read by Madelyn Buzzard
"A shocking crime of passion has Bakerhaven buzzing! In Parnell Hall's Presumed Puzzled, the Puzzle Lady gets more than she bargained for when she's hired to track down Paula Martindale's straying husband. She finds him, all right--hacked to pieces on his living room rug, while his blood-drenched wife haunts the crime scene clutching a butcher knife. It's a tough spot for attractive young attorney Becky Baldwin. Paula is presumed innocent until proven guilty, but try to find one juror who's going to think so. It's up to Cora to find the evidence to save the day. She has just two problems: She's a witness for the prosecution, and every bit of evidence she finds in Paula's favor, from crossword puzzles to Sudoku to alibi witnesses, tends to indicate that Cora herself is the killer!" -- Provided by publisher. Some violence and some strong language. 2016.
DB109054 Presumed Puzzled: A Puzzle Lady Mystery

Easy Errors: A Posadas County Mystery
DB108763 8 hours 30 minutes
by Steven F. Havill
read by Seth Garcia
"When the first Posadas County Mystery, Heartshot, published in 1991, Bill Gastner was the county Undersheriff. Over time Bill became Sheriff, then retired, and Robert Torrez took over the top spot. But what were Torrez's first days as a rookie officer like? Terrible! It's 1986. Undersheriff Bill Gastner is enjoying his usual insomnia alone inside his old adobe when jolted by a horrendous noise. Dreading what he will find, he hastens to the nearby interstate exit where a violent crash has occurred. Not only is the vehicle that struck the support pillars totaled and the driver and a passenger crushed inside, a dead boy has been ejected. As the appalled Gastner recognizes the youth and swings into action, the first deputy to join him at the scene is rookie Robert Torrez, the department's newest hire. Before Gastner can head him off, Torrez sees that the boy is his spirited younger brother. And the girl crushed inside the SUV is a younger sister. The driver of the Suburban, also dead, is the assistant District Attorney's teenaged son. Two local family tragedies. A shaken couple reports that when the Suburban, careening at nearly 100 miles an hour, passed them on the interstate, activity inside hinted at its occupants' panic. Were the three dead kids running from someone-or something-rather than speeding? Further investigation reveals that a fourth teen should have been in the vehicle, but is now missing. Where had the four kids been? And why? It appears they'd lied to their parents. Following his usual meticulous procedure, Gastner traces the vehicle's path to a remote canyon with attractive caves. The discovery he makes there balloons the case and introduces possible murder. Yet with a lack of witnesses hampering Sheriff Salcido, Gastner, Torrez, and other deputies, errors working the case can too easily be made." -- Provided by publisher. Violence and strong language. 2017.
DB108763 Easy Errors: A Posadas County Mystery

Gone Missing in Harlem: A Novel
DB109270 9 hours 33 minutes
by Karla FC Holloway
read by Kelechi Ezie
"The Mosby family, like other thousands, migrate from the loblolly-scented Carolinas north to the Harlem of their aspirations-with its promise of freedom and opportunities, sunlit boulevards, and elegant societies. The family arrives as Harlem staggers under the flu pandemic that follows the First World War. DeLilah Mosby and her daughter, Selma, meet difficulties with backbone and resolve to make a home for themselves in the city, and Selma has a baby, Chloe. As the Great Depression creeps across the world at the close of the twenties, however, the farsighted see hard times coming. The panic of the early thirties is embodied in the kidnapping and murder of the infant son of the nation's dashing young aviator, Charles Lindbergh. A transfixed public follows the manhunt in the press and on the radio. Then Chloe goes missing-but her disappearance does not draw the same attention. Wry and perceptive Weldon Haynie Thomas, the city's first "colored" policeman, takes the case. The urgent investigation tests Thomas's abilities to draw out the secrets Harlem harbors, untangling the color-coded connections and relationships that keep company with greed, ghosts, and grief." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
DB109270 Gone Missing in Harlem: A Novel

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons
DB108936 8 hours 14 minutes
by Kate Khavari
read by Jodie Harris
"London, 1923. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh is the first woman to hold the position at University College of London. When she attends a dinner party for the school, she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon. What she doesn't expect is for Mrs. Henry, one of the professors' wives, to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin. Dr. Maxwell, Saffron's mentor, is the main suspect, and evidence quickly mounts. Joined by flirtatious fellow researcher Alexander Ashton, Saffron uses her knowledge of botany as she explores steamy greenhouses, dark gardens, and deadly poisons to clear Maxwell's name. Will she be able to uncover the truth, or will her investigation land her on the murderer's list? In this entertaining examination of society's expectations, debut author Kate Khavari deftly sheds a light on the struggles of women in a male-dominated field, wrapped in mystery and murder." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB108936 A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons

In Other Words...Murder: Holmes & Moriarity, Book 4
DB109055 7 hours 18 minutes
by Josh Lanyon
read by Alec Volz
"Death reveals all secrets. Mystery author Christopher Holmes, now comfortably engaged to sometimes rival, sometimes nemesis J.X. Moriarity, is toying with the idea of becoming a true crime writer when he learns a body has been discovered in the backyard of his former residence. Even worse, David--Christopher's ex--accuses Christopher of murdering the man David left Christopher for! It's life--and death--as usual at Chez Holmes. In other words...Murder." -- Provided by publisher. Violence, strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. 2018.
DB109055 In Other Words...Murder: Holmes & Moriarity, Book 4

The N'Gustro Affair
DB108765 5 hours 36 minutes
by Jean-Patrick Manchette
read by Doug Tisdale Jr.
"The debut novel of a pioneering author of French crime thrillers. Mean, arrogant, naive, sadistic on occasion, the young Henri Butron records his life story on tape just before death catches up with him: a death passed off as a suicide by his killers, French secret service agents who need to hush up their role--and Butron's--in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of a prominent opposition leader from a third-world African nation in the throes of a postcolonial civil war. The N'Gustro Affair is a thinly veiled retelling of the 1965 abduction and killing of Mehdi Ben Barka, a radical opponent of King Hassan II of Morocco. But this is merely the backdrop to Jean-Patrick Manchette's first-person portrait (with shades of Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me) of a man who lacks the insight to see himself for what he is: a wannabe nihilist too weak to be even a full-bore fascist." -- Provided by publisher. Translated from the 1971 French edition. Violence, strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2021.
DB108765 The N'Gustro Affair

Looking Glass
DB108489 8 hours 43 minutes
by Andrew Mayne
read by David DeBoy
"Professor Theo Cray caught one of the most prolific serial killers in history using revolutionary scientific methods. Cut off from university research because of the shroud of suspicion around him after the death of his former student and the aftermath of catching his quarry, Cray tries to rebuild his life but finds himself drawn into another unsolved case. The desperate father of a missing child, ignored by the authorities and abandoned by his community, turns to Theo for help. The only clues are children's drawings and an inner-city urban legend about someone called the Toy Man. To unravel the mystery behind the Toy Man, Theo must set aside his scientific preconceptions and embrace a world where dreams and nightmares carry just as much weight as reality. As he becomes immersed in the case, he discovers a far-reaching conspiracy--one that hasn't yet claimed its last victim." -- Provided by publisher. Violence and strong language. 2018.
DB108489 Looking Glass

Murder Theory
DB108987 8 hours 49 minutes
by Andrew Mayne
read by Mark Ashby
"The desire to kill is becoming contagious in this riveting novel of conceivable mad science by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Naturalist. Computational biologist and serial-killer hunter Dr. Theo Cray receives an off-the-record request from the FBI to investigate an inexplicable double homicide. It happened at the excavation site where a murderer had buried his victims' remains. In custody is a forensic technician in shock, with no history of aggression. He doesn't remember a thing. His colleagues don't even recognize the man they thought they knew. But an MRI reveals something peculiar. And abnormal. What on earth made him commit murder? After discovering that a mysterious man has been stalking crime scenes and stealing forensic data, Cray has a radical and terrifying theory. Now he must race against time to find a darker version of himself: a scientist with an obsession in pathological behavior who uses his genius not to catch serial killers--but to create them." -- Provided by publisher. Violence and strong language. 2019.
DB108987 Murder Theory

The Naturalist
DB108035 9 hours 17 minutes
by Andrew Mayne
read by Stephen Van Doren
Professor Theo Cray has been trained to see patterns where others see chaos. When he is called in to consult in the Montana woods where mutilated bodies--including that of a former student--were found, he sees something unnatural. He must race to find the killer before he becomes the next target. Violence, strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2017.
DB108035 The Naturalist

The Geometry of Holding Hands: Isabel Dalhousie Series, Book 13
DB109269 7 hours 2 minutes
by Alexander McCall Smith
read by Davina Porter
"Isabel Dalhousie finds herself entangled in some tricky familial and financial situations that will require all of her kindness, charm and philosophical expertise to navigate. Just when Isabel and Jamie finally seem to have some time to connect and unwind, a wealthy Edinburgh resident reaches out to Isabel with an unusual request--he would like her to become the executor of his large Highland estate. Though Isabel initially demurs, he presses on. He has only a short time to live and, without any direct heirs, is struggling to determine which of his three cousins would be the best caretaker. Should the estate go to the bohemian artist, the savvy city property developer, or the quiet, unassuming bachelor? And if this weren't enough to keep Isabel occupied, she's also spending more time helping her niece, Cat, at the deli. Cat, perennially unlucky in love, appears to have finally found her match in the leonine Leo. But Isabel is beginning to suspect that Leo might be interested in more than Cat's charms--namely, her access to the family trust. Isabel will need to rely upon her remarkable reserves of intelligence and compassion in order to give all parties exactly what they want and deserve--no more and no less." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB109269 The Geometry of Holding Hands: Isabel Dalhousie Series, Book 13

Death of a Messenger: A Koa Kone Hawaiian Mystery
DB108998 10 hours 12 minutes
by Robert McCaw
read by Barrie Kealoha
"Journey deep into the exotic locales of Hawaii's Big Island to discover its language, culture--and crime. On Hawaii Island, an anonymous 911 caller reports a body at Pohakuloa, the Army's live-fire training area. Hilo Chief Detective Koa Kane, a cop with his own secret criminal past, finds a mutilated corpse--bearing all the hallmarks of ancient ritual sacrifice. He encounters a host of obstacles as he pursues the murderer--an incompetent local medical examiner, hostility from both haoles (Westerners) and sovereignty advocates, and a myriad of lies. Koa races to discover whether the victim stumbled upon a gang of high-tech archaeological thieves, or learned a secret so shocking it cost him his life and put others in mortal danger. Will Hilo's most respected detective stop this sadistic fiend--or will the Pohakuloa killer strike again, with even deadlier consequences?" -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some violence. 2015.
DB108998 Death of a Messenger: A Koa Kone Hawaiian Mystery

Strawberried Alive
DB109693 6 hours 39 minutes
by Jenn McKinlay
read by Susan Boyce
"Life is smooth as buttercream at the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery, and newlyweds Mel and Joe are stopping to smell the flours. But things start to crumble one night when an unknown gunman takes a shot at Mel. Even though the bullets miss their mark, the cupcake crew goes on high alert to figure out who would want to kill a small-town baker--and why. When more business owners are attacked, things turn fatal, and locals begin to wonder if the killer could be one of their own. Every shop owner in town starts to fear it's only a matter of time before they too become victims of the mystery murderer. Despite the cupcake crew's superb baking skills, it will be anything but a piece of cake to catch the killer, as they try to prevent anyone else from being berried." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109693 Strawberried Alive

Confidence
DB109017 7 hours 33 minutes
by Denise Mina
read by Jonathan Keeble
"Deception. Theft. Murder. All you need is confidence. Anna McDonald has made a terrible mistake. She has forced her blended family to vacation together. The weather is bad, her daughters are bored, and her ex-husband still insufferable. Oh, and Fin Cohen brought his latest girlfriend, too. So when news of a shocking kidnapping breaks, Anna and Fin do the responsible thing. They take off to solve the case. Lisa Lee, a young YouTube star, has vanished after answering the door to what she thought was a pizza delivery. Police suspect her dad or the delivery guy, but in Lisa's last known video she ventured into an abandoned chateau in France, where she uncovered a priceless artifact. Anna knows they must find this young woman before it's too late. To do so, they need to track down that treasure, a casket that could hold answers to the greatest questions ever asked. But Anna and Fin might have misunderstood the stakes of the game. Soon, they find themselves mixed up with some very dark characters, on another thrilling chase across Europe--and another race to save their own lives." -- Provided by publisher. Violence and strong language. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109017 Confidence

The Wedding Plot: A Mercy Carr Mystery
DB109152 11 hours 47 minutes
by Paula Munier
read by Kathleen McInerney
"Love never dies a natural death.... When Mercy's grandmother Patience marries her longtime beau Claude Renault at the five-star Lady's Slipper Inn, it promises to be the destination wedding of the year. Just as the four-day extravaganza is due to begin, the inn's spa director Bodhi St. George disappears--and Mercy's mother Grace sends Mercy and Elvis to find him. But what they discover instead is a stranger skewered by a pitchfork in the barn on the goat farm where St. George lived. As Mercy tries to figure out who the victim is and where St. George is hiding, the bride and groom's estranged relations gather for the first of the pre-wedding festivities. Long-buried rivalries and resentments surface--and Mercy realizes that they're all keeping secrets that could tear both families apart. When Elvis interrupts the escalating melodrama to alert Mercy to an intruder on the estate, she finds a wounded St. George in the cottage where she and Troy are staying. St. George is not who he says he is--but when he escapes from the hospital and disappears again, Mercy thinks he's gone for good. With the wedding imminent and the families at each other's throats, she decides finding St. George will have to wait. The big day arrives--and one of the groomsmen shows up dead. Now the danger is up-close and personal. With the wedding held hostage, it's up to Mercy and Elvis together with Troy and Susie Bear to stop the killer and save the bride and groom--before death do they part." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109152 The Wedding Plot: A Mercy Carr Mystery

Stand Your Ground
DB109427 10 hours 13 minutes
by Victoria Christopher Murray
read by Suzzanne Douglas
"In number-one Essence-best-selling author Victoria Christopher Murray's new novel, three women must grapple with their faith and belief in justice when they become caught up in a highly charged murder trial involving the death of an African American teenage boy whose shooter maintains a "stand your ground" defense. Stand Your Ground is the story of three women who find themselves thrown together because of the most horrible of situations. Janice Johnson suffers through every mother's nightmare when she finds out that her 16-year-old son, Marquis, was murdered in the parking lot of a convenience store. But she and her husband's horror becomes greater when they find out that the shooter has not been arrested. The Johnsons begin a quest to get justice for their son--though the Johnsons want to take different roads to justice. Janice wants to work with the police while her husband calls on his brother who is a member of the Brown Guardians, a militant group who've been accused of being nothing more than street vigilantes. This struggle drives a wedge between Janice and her husband at a time when they should be drawing closer together. It doesn't help that there's been infidelity in their marriage in the past that is rearing its head again. Shelly Vance cannot believe that she is in the middle of this nightmare. Her husband, Wyatt, has killed a teenager who he says attacked him. And now that tragedy has been magnified by the racial divide that it's created in the city. Matters are made worse when her husband is finally arrested and put on trial. And by extension Shelly finds herself being judged by everyone, from her employer to her friends. But no matter what, Shelly is going to stand by her husband, even though she has a secret that could blow this case wide open." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2015.
DB109427 Stand Your Ground

Ration of Lies: Maggie Sullivan Mystery, Book 8
DB108305 8 hours 2 minutes
by M. Ruth Myers
read by Kristin Allison
"As WWII rages in the Pacific, relatives of a Japanese-American suspected of starting a fatal fire hire Ohio private investigator Maggie Sullivan to uncover the truth. Did he do it? Is he alive or dead? The police claim not to know what became of him, and there are hints of War Department involvement. Tosh Hashimoto and his family are among some 150 Japanese-Americans brought to Dayton by a church coalition that found jobs and housing for them throughout the community. The more Maggie learns about the night of the fire, the more she believes Tosh is being framed. Grieving the recent loss of a close childhood friend killed in battle, Maggie wrestles inner conflict over taking the case. A harrowing attack in an alley, the murder of a witness, and a racist warning gouged into her office filing cabinet fuel her resolve to push ahead. Amid rationing, shortages, extra beds for noisy newcomers wedged into corners of her once-quiet rooming house, and an unexpected change in her personal life, Maggie scrambles to determine the identity of a killer who is more than willing to kill again." -- Provided by publisher. Some violence. 2019.
DB108305 Ration of Lies: Maggie Sullivan Mystery, Book 8

Death and the Chapman
DB108777 7 hours 13 minutes
by Kate Sedley
read by Seth Garcia
"One man's disappearance is another man's destiny... The birth of a new medieval detective. The political situation in 1471 is complex and the war between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions rages on. But for Roger the Chapman, who has recently given up a monk's cell for freedom to be found peddling his wares on the open road, life goes on much as normal. Until, that is, he gets caught up in the strange disappearance of Clement Weaver, only son of a wealthy Bristol alderman. It seems that Clement is not the only one to have vanished without a trace from London's Crossed Hands Inn... Roger's interest is piqued and at the request of the alderman he sets off for the bustle and excitement of London, to find out just how Clement disappeared. It is a journey that carries him to a confrontation with the highest power in the land, and puts his life in mortal peril." -- Provided by publisher. Some violence, some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 1992.
DB108777 Death and the Chapman

City of Schemes
DB108937 10 hours 6 minutes
by Victoria Thompson
read by Kate Forbes
"Elizabeth Miles is preparing for her wedding to Gideon Bates, when a menacing shadow from her past threatens to destroy the life she has built for herself in this all-new Counterfeit Lady Novel from USA Today bestselling author Victoria Thompson. The Great War is over, and Elizabeth and Gideon are busily planning their wedding and welcoming home old friends now discharged from the army. One of them, Captain Logan Carstens, the son and heir of a wealthy family, seems less than happy to be home and with good reason. While Logan was in France, he fell in love with a beautiful French woman named Noelle. He desperately wanted to propose, but he was already engaged and felt bound to honor his commitment. When Logan receives a letter supposedly from Noelle begging for money to help her flee the terrible conditions in France and come to America, Elizabeth is suspicious. There is no way to verify the letter is actually from Noelle, and she fears that a con man or woman might be trying to take advantage of Logan in his vulnerable state. But that is not all Elizabeth has to worry about. Vicious thug Oscar Thornton has gotten wind of her wedding announcement and realizes the woman who conned him is still alive and well. Gideon and Elizabeth have to figure out a way to help their friend while making sure their worst enemy does not destroy their future." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB108937 City of Schemes

City of Shadows
DB109106 10 hours 28 minutes
by Victoria Thompson
read by Kate Forbes
"In this all-new Counterfeit Lady novel from USA Today bestselling author Victoria Thompson, newlywed Elizabeth Miles must use her unlawful skills to expose a dangerous charlatan. Elizabeth Miles Bates has returned from her honeymoon with Gideon and is taking great pride in having completely forsaken her disreputable past. Then her friend, Anna Vanderslice, begs her to use her talents to save her widowed mother from an unscrupulous medium. Since the war and the flu epidemic left so many families in mourning, seances have come back into vogue as desperate families long to communicate with their loved ones. Anna's mother has been attending seances in hopes of connecting with her son, David, who died of influenza. Anna had thought it a heartbreaking but harmless activity, but she's just learned that Mrs. Vanderslice is paying the medium ever increasing sums of money in her eagerness to make contact. Since David's death has already caused Anna and her mother financial hardship, Mrs. Vanderslice's obsession is in danger of ruining them. Madame Ophelia is working with a group of con artists to fleece as many grieving New Yorkers as possible before moving on to another city. Several of Mrs. Vanderslice's friends, as well as some of Gideon's clients, have already been victims. Elizabeth knows that simply exposing the medium as a fraud will not be enough to recoup the stolen money; the only way is to con the medium and her cohorts. But will Elizabeth's family help her when it means betraying other con artists? Elizabeth recruits Gideon, her aunt Cybil and her partner, Zelda, to lend a hand. Can Elizabeth and her gang of amateurs fool the professionals? Or will speaking to the dead lead to deadly consequences?" -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
DB109106 City of Shadows

No Hiding Place
DB108322 7 hours 11 minutes
by Valerie Wilson Wesley
read by Dawn Ursula
"With three electrifying Tamara Hayle mysteries, Valerie Wilson Wesley has become one of the hottest names on the female crime-writing scene. Her previous novel Where Evil Sleeps, "captivates mystery lovers to the hilt" (Vibe). With No Hiding Place, Wesley not only delivers another irresistible mystery, but tackles some of the more disturbing issues of our times. When Newark hoodlum Shawn Raymond is killed, his mother, Bessie, hard-earned money in hand, begs Tamara to look into the unsolved murder. According to Bessie, the cops just don't give a damn, but Tamara is enough of a realist to know the sad truth that gangsters usually end up getting what they deserve. She feels sorry for Bessie Raymond, but like the cops, it's hard for her not to think Good riddance, too. Yet she can also remember a time when Shawn Raymond was an innocent boy, loved and mentored by her dead brother, Johnny. She knows what the void left by Johnny's suicide may have contributed to the bad choices Shawn made. Tied to the Raymonds by grief and memory, Tamara finally agrees to take Shawn Raymond's case. But Tamara finds that the path to the killer leads not only through the city's mean streets and threatened middle class but into her personal life as well, in a terrible, shattering way. More blood will be spilled before Tamara learns her bitter lesson that when it comes to murder and the evil in people's hearts, there truly is no hiding place." -- Provided by publisher. Violence and strong language. 1997.
DB108322 No Hiding Place

Occult and Horror

And Then I Woke Up
DB108029 3 hours 38 minutes
by Malcolm Devlin
read by Stephen Van Doren
When a disease affects how reality is perceived, it's hard to be sure of anything. Spence is one of the "cured" living at the Ironside rehabilitation facility. Haunted by guilt, he refuses to face the changed world until a new inmate challenges him to help her find her old crew. Violence and strong language. 2022.
DB108029 And Then I Woke Up

Frightmares
DB109249 8 hours 47 minutes
by Eva V. Gibson
read by Barrett Leddy
"Dave is spending his final summer before college working at Frightmares
House of Horrors, a struggling haunted house attraction held together by malfunctioning killer clown mannequins, a cheap replica Annabelle doll, and a lot of improvising. After a particularly disastrous shift ends in an employee walkout, Dave reluctantly takes over a role for his friend; however, he makes a horrifying discovery--a real dead body, hidden on set. But when Dave returns with help, the body is gone. Though the killer covered their tracks, Dave realizes they must know what he saw. Could he be their next target?" -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109249 Frightmares

She Wakes
DB108703 8 hours 26 minutes
by Jack Ketchum
read by Colton Weatherston
"Greece. Ancient land of mystery, legend and myth. It is here that businessman Jordan Chase visits an historic tomb, only to experience a dark vision of the future. And it is here, amidst the beauty of the landscape, that Lelia, a gorgeous but dangerous woman, befriends a group of tourists to lure them into a nightmare of pain and terror. She lives to seduce and destroy, to feed off her human prey. Lelia is more than myth, more than superstition. Lelia is deadly." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.
DB108703 She Wakes

What Moves the Dead
DB109294 5 hours 13 minutes
by T. Kingfisher
read by Avi Roque
"When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania. What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves. Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109294 What Moves the Dead

The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft
DB108342 49 hours 59 minutes
by Leslie S. Klinger
read by Jared Zak
"At the time of his death at the age of forty-six, Lovecraft's work had appeared only in dime-store magazines, ignored by the public and maligned by critics. Now, well over a century after his birth, Lovecraft is increasingly being recognized as the foundation for American horror and science fiction. Editor Leslie S. Klinger charts the rise of the erstwhile pulp writer, whose rediscovery and reclamation into the literary canon can be compared only to that of Poe or Melville. Weaving together a broad base of existing scholarship with his own insights, Klinger appends Lovecraft's uncanny oeuvre and Kafkaesque life story in a way that provides context and unlocks many of the secrets of his often cryptic body of work. Over the course of his career, Lovecraft made a marked departure from the gothic style of his predecessors that focused mostly on ghosts, ghouls, and witches, instead crafting a vast mythos in which humanity is but a blissfully unaware speck in a cosmos shared by vast and ancient alien beings. One of the progenitors of "weird fiction," Lovecraft wrote stories suggesting that we share not just our reality but our planet, and even a common ancestry, with unspeakable, godlike creatures just one accidental revelation away from emerging from their epoch of hibernation and extinguishing both our individual sanity and entire civilization. Klinger collects here twenty-two of Lovecraft's most chilling "Arkham" tales, including "The Call of Cthulhu," "At the Mountains of Madness," "The Whisperer in Darkness," "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," and "The Colour Out of Space."" -- Provided by publisher. 2014.
DB108342 The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft

Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror
DB108336 8 hours 22 minutes
by Mark Matthews
read by Alec Volz
"Welcome to the grand finale of Addiction Horror anthologies. Inside, you'll find tales of terror featuring the insidious nature of addiction, told with unflinching honesty but compassion for those who suffer. Addiction is a perpetual epidemic, where swarms of human moths flutter to the flames of hell. Relationships are destroyed, bodies deteriorate, yet the craving continues for that which is killing you--living, as the title suggests, like an Orphan of Bliss." -- Provided by publisher. Violence, strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2022.
DB108336 Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau
DB109499 11 hours 43 minutes
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
read by Gisela Chipe
"From the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a dreamy reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico. Carlota Moreau: A young woman growing up on a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of a researcher who is either a genius or a madman. Montgomery Laughton: A melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers. The hybrids: The fruits of the doctor's labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities. All of them live in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Dr. Moreau's patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction. For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and, in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109499 The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Ghost Stories: Classic Tales of Horror and Suspense
DB108612 11 hours 42 minutes
by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger
read by Jared Zak
"The ghost story has long been a staple of world literature, but many of the genre's greatest tales have been forgotten, overshadowed in many cases by their authors' bestselling work in other genres. In this spine-tingling anthology, little known stories from literary titans like Charles Dickens and Edith Wharton are collected alongside overlooked works from masters of horror fiction like Edgar Allan Poe and M. R. James. Acclaimed anthologists Leslie S. Klinger The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes and Lisa Morton Ghosts: A Haunted History set these stories in historical context and trace the literary significance of ghosts in fiction over almost two hundred years--from a traditional English ballad first printed in 1724 up to the science fiction-tinged tales of the early twentieth century." -- Provided by publisher. Some violence. 2019.
DB108612 Ghost Stories: Classic Tales of Horror and Suspense

Lapvona
DB109093 8 hours 47 minutes
by Ottessa Moshfegh
read by Ottessa Moshfegh
"In a village in a medieval fiefdom buffeted by natural disasters, a motherless shepherd boy finds himself the unlikely pivot of a power struggle that puts all manner of faith to a savage test, in a spellbinding novel that represents Ottessa Moshfegh's most exciting leap yet. Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, never knew his mother; his father told him she died in childbirth. One of life's few consolations for Marek is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him when he was a baby, as she did so many of the village's children. Ina's gifts extend beyond childcare: she possesses a unique ability to communicate with the natural world. Her gift often brings her the transmission of sacred knowledge on levels far beyond those available to other villagers, however religious they might be. For some people, Ina's home in the woods outside of the village is a place to fear and to avoid, a godless place. Among their number is Father Barnabas, the town priest and lackey for the depraved lord and governor, Villiam, whose hilltop manor contains a secret embarrassment of riches. The people's desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by Villiam and the priest, especially in this year of record drought and famine. But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord's family, new and occult forces upset the old order. By year's end, the veil between blindness and sight, life and death, the natural world and the spirit world, will prove to be very thin indeed." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109093 Lapvona

Old Country
DB109495 12 hours 48 minutes
by Matt Query and Harrison Query
read by Juliette Goglia
"It's the house of their dreams. Former marine Harry and his wife, Sasha, have packed up their life and their golden retriever, Dash, and fled the corporate rat race to live off the land in rural Idaho. Their breathtaking new home sits on more than forty acres of meadow, aspen trees, and pine forest in the Teton Valley. Even if their friends and family think it's a strange choice for an up-and-coming pair of urban professionals, Harry and Sasha couldn't be happier about the future they're building, all by their lonesome. That is, until their nearest neighbors, Dan and Lucy Steiner, come bearing more than housewarming gifts. Dan and Lucy warn Harry and Sasha of a malevolent spirit that lives in the valley, one that with every season will haunt them in fresh, ever-more-diabolical ways. At first, it seems like an old wives' tale. But when spring arrives, so does the first evil manifestation, challenging everything Harry and Sasha thought they knew about the world. As each season passes, the spirit grows stronger, the land more sinister, and each encounter more dangerous. Will Harry and Sasha learn the true meaning of a forever home before it's too late." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109495 Old Country

Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves, and Ghosts: 25 Classic Stories of the Supernatural
DB108591 15 hours 47 minutes
by Barbara H. Solomon and Eileen Panetta
read by Shawn Hertel
"Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves, and Ghosts collects classic stories from literary masters inspired by folklore and mythology who dared to explore the darker side of human nature and crafted tales that defied convention, stirred up controversy, and gave life to a storytelling genre that has endured for generations. With stories by Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Henry James, Anne Sexton, Oscar Wilde, Yvonne Navarro, Fritz Leiber, Ramsey Campbell, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Angela Carter, and others." -- Provided by publisher. Violence, strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2011.
DB108591 Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves, and Ghosts: 25 Classic Stories of the Supernatural

Lally's Game: Five Nights at Freddy's; Tales from the Pizzaplex, Book 1
DB109502 7 hours 7 minutes
by Andrea Waggener and Scott
read by Suzanne Elise Freeman
"A forbidden artifact from her fiancee's past beckons to Selena. Jessica leads a double-life from her friends and coworkers in the children's wing of a hospital. Maya can't resist the temptation to explore an off-limits area of Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex. But in the world of Five Nights at Freddy's, everything comes with a price to pay." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109502 Lally's Game: Five Nights at Freddy's; Tales from the Pizzaplex, Book 1

Katzenjammer
DB109441 5 hours 31 minutes
by Francesca Zappia
read by Lauren Fortgang
"Cat lives in her high school. She never leaves, and for a long time her school has provided her with everything she needs. But now things are changing. The hallways contract and expand along with the school's breathing, and the showers in the bathroom run a bloody red. Cat's best friend is slowly turning into cardboard, and instead of a face, Cat has a cat mask made of her own hardened flesh. Cat doesn't remember why she is trapped in her school or why half of them--Cat included--are slowly transforming. Escaping has always been the one impossibility in her school's upside-down world. But to save herself from the eventual self-destruction all the students face, Cat must find the way out. And to do that, she'll have to remember what put her there in the first place." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109441 Katzenjammer

Religious Themes

Note of Peril
DB109211 6 hours 22 minutes
by Hannah Alexander
read by Libby McKnight
"The unusual gift arrives after country singer Grace Brennan's show in Branson--a music box with an anonymous note. Only Grace recognizes the message's implied threat. Someone has discovered the Hideaway native's past indiscretion--and intends to jeopardize her present success. Her director's mysterious death leaves Grace free-falling--into the arms of costar Michael Gold. Michael is supportive as Grace resists pressure to betray her Christian values. But with danger looming, she realizes that trusting anyone--even the man she secretly loves--makes her vulnerable. With a stalker closing in, can Michael convince Grace that going solo could lead to a greater danger?" -- Provided by publisher. 2005.
DB109211 Note of Peril

Caught in the Middle
DB109221 12 hours 39 minutes
by Regina Jennings
read by Elizabeth Rose
"The train to Garber, Texas, is supposed to bring life's next victory to Nicholas Lovelace. Instead, it gets held up by robbers who are thwarted by the last person Nick ever expected--Anne Tillerton from back home in Prairie Lea. Anne's been hiding away as a buffalo hunter. She's only in town to find their runaway cook, but the woman flees--leaving Anne with her infant son. With Nick the only person Anne knows in town, the two form an unlikely team as they try to figure out what to do with the child. But being in town means acting and dressing for polite society--and it's not going well for Anne. Meanwhile, Nick's work is bringing new pressures, and being seen with a rough-around-the-edges woman isn't helping his reputation. Caught between their own dreams, a deepening relationship, and others' expectations, can the pair find their way to love?" -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. 2014.
DB109221 Caught in the Middle

Love in the Balance
DB108597 11 hours 6 minutes
by Regina Jennings
read by Gabriella Cavallero
"Handsome Cowboy or Debonair Tycoon. How's a Girl to Choose? Molly Lovelace dreams of a life without cares in Lockhart, Texas. She also dreams of handsome wrangler Bailey Garner, her ardent but inconsistent beau. The problem is, with Bailey's poor prospects, she just can't fit the two dreams together. Then mysterious stranger Edward Pierrepont sweeps into town--and her life--and for the first time Molly wonders if she's met the man who can give her everything. But he won't be in Lockhart long and while it certainly seems like he talks about their glorious future together, she can't quite get Bailey out of her mind. What's a girl to do with all these decisions when love is in the balance?" -- Provided by publisher. 2013.
DB108597 Love in the Balance

The Last Cavaliers
DB108990 36 hours 29 minutes
by Gilbert Morris
read by Doug Ramsdell
"Relive Civil War history with beloved author Gilbert Morris. In the complete Last Cavaliers series, Yancy, Clay, and Morgan Tremayne join forces with three of the Civil War's greatest generals--Stonewall Jackson, Jeb Stuart, and Robert E. Lee. But as the battle rages between North and South, both the soldiers and the generals find personal battles raging in their hearts as they're forced to leave behind the women they love." -- Provided by publisher. Contains three novels: The Crossing, The Sword, and The Surrender. 2013.
DB108990 The Last Cavaliers

Romance

The Cheat Sheet
DB109351 9 hours 1 minutes
by Sarah Adams
read by Renee Dorian
"Hi, my name is Bree Camden, and I'm hopelessly in love with my best friend and star quarterback Nathan Donelson (so is half of America, judging by the tabloids and how much the guy dates). The first step is admitting it, right? Except, I can never admit it to him because he clearly doesn't see me that way, and the last thing I want is for things to get weird between us. Nothing but good old-fashioned no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive platonic friendship for us! Everything is exactly how I like it! Yes. Good. (I'm not crying; I'm just peeling an onion.) Our friendship is going swimmingly until I accidentally spill my beans to a reporter over too much tequila, and now the world seems to think Nathan and I belong together. Oh, and did I mention we have to date publicly for three weeks until after the Super Bowl because we signed a contract with...oops, forgot I can't tell anyone about that! The bottom line is that my best friend is now smudging all the lines and acting very un-platonic, and I'm just trying to keep my body from bursting into flames every time he touches me. How am I going to make it through three weeks of fake dating Nathan without anything changing between us? Especially when it almost-sorta-kinda seems like he's fighting for a completely different outcome. Send help. XO Bree." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
DB109351 The Cheat Sheet

Honey and Spice: A Novel
DB109265 12 hours 3 minutes
by Bolu Babalola
read by Weruche Opia
"Sweet like plantain, hot like pepper. They taste the best when together.... Sharp-tongued (and secretly soft-hearted) Kiki Banjo has just made a huge mistake. As an expert in relationship-evasion and the host of the popular student radio show Brown Sugar, she's made it her mission to make sure the women of the African-Caribbean Society at Whitewell University do not fall into the mess of "situationships", players, and heartbreak. But when the Queen of the Unbothered kisses Malakai Korede, the guy she just publicly denounced as "The Wastemen of Whitewell," in front of every Blackwellian on campus, she finds her show on the brink. They're soon embroiled in a fake relationship to try and salvage their reputations and save their futures. Kiki has never surrendered her heart before, and a player like Malakai won't be the one to change that, no matter how charming he is or how electric their connection feels. But surprisingly entertaining study sessions and intimate, late-night talks at old-fashioned diners force Kiki to look beyond her own presumptions. Is she ready to open herself up to something deeper?" -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109265 Honey and Spice: A Novel

Lord Carew's Bride
DB108321 9 hours 21 minutes
by Mary Balogh
read by Laura Giannarelli
When the notorious, irresistible Earl of Rushford waltzes back into Samantha's life after betraying her in the past, she is torn between a marriage proposal by Rushford's charming cousin and the embers of an old passion. Some descriptions of sex. 1995.
DB108321 Lord Carew's Bride

A Heavy Dose of Allison Tandy
DB109245 9 hours 57 minutes
by Jeff Bishop
read by Robbie Daymond
"After taking painkillers for a basketball injury, eighteen-year-old Cam starts seeing visions of his comatose ex-girlfriend Ally, leaving him to wonder what her spectral visits really mean." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2021.
DB109245 A Heavy Dose of Allison Tandy

Miss Delectable: Mischief in Mayfair, Book One
DB108995 12 hours 39 minutes
by Grace Burrowes
read by Terry Donnelly
"Miss Ann Pearson has spent years learning the difficult art of the professional cook, and jealously guarding her position in the kitchen of the fancy Coventry Club. When Colonel Sir Orion Goddard asks her to take on a young apprentice, Ann would rather refuse. But Orion is respectful, gruffly charming, and looking out for a girl whom others have neglected, and that is a combination Ann cannot resist. Lingering scandal has taught Orion to make his way with allies or entanglements along the fringes of polite society. Then he meets Ann, who is fierce, passionate, and warm-hearted, and also worth fighting for. If Orion and Ann are to forge a new love, they must first learn to trust each other, and find the courage to overcome old enemies who will do anything to keep the cook and colonel apart!" -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB108995 Miss Delectable: Mischief in Mayfair, Book One

Miss Delightful: Mischief in Mayfair, Book 2
DB109202 13 hours 21 minutes
by Grace Burrowes
read by Terry Donnelly
"Miss Dorcas Delancey, vicar's daughter and advocate for the less fortunate, has been guarding her heart from fortune hunters and fashionable fribbles for years. She's completely unprepared for Alasdhair MacKay, former officer and all around grouch, to steal that heart. But when Alasdhair takes on responsibility for a motherless infant whom Dorcas's family won't acknowledge, she sees the honor lurking beneath his gruff mannerisms. Alasdhair MacKay did not storm hell with Wellington's army just so he could drink, swive, and flirt his way through life after Waterloo. He's serious, intelligent, and passionate about his causes--also passionate in his regard for Dorcas. He's the man of her dreams and a paragon in plaid, but looming scandal means Dorcas will have to choose between love and the honor Alasdhair so relentlessly values." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB109202 Miss Delightful: Mischief in Mayfair, Book 2

Miss Dignified: Mischief in Mayfair; Book Three
DB109752 13 hours 51 minutes
by Grace Burrowes
read by Terry Donnelly
"Lydia Lovelace has taken the housekeeper's post in the London home of Captain Dylan Powell. The captain is short on charm, but he's known for his rapport with, and support of, former soldiers trying to make a peacetime life in London. Unbeknownst to the captain, Lydia is searching for a brother who never came home after Waterloo, a brother whose birthright, along with Lydia's settlements, is being frittered away by scheming family members. Dylan has never viewed his home as much more than a place to take meals and sleep out of the wet while he finds paying work and good positions for his former subordinates. The new housekeeper is changing all of that, bringing comfort and tranquility to Dylan's domicile and to his days. When Dylan and Lydia begin to explore pleasures shared in the night, Lydia realizes she will have to choose between loyalty to her long-lost brother and a future with the captain who has stolen her heart." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2021.
DB109752 Miss Dignified: Mischief in Mayfair; Book Three

Barbarian's Prize: Ice Planet Barbarians, Book 6
DB109303 6 hours 8 minutes
by Ruby Dixon
read by Mason Lloyd
"It's hard being the most popular girl on the ice planet. The alien men are falling all over themselves to impress me in the hopes that I'll take them to my furs. But they don't know my secrets--none of them do. And they don't realize that behind my smile, I just wish they'd go away. I don't want any of them. I want someone else--someone with a gorgeous blue body, big horns, and the most intense gaze ever. He's the only one that knows the truth. Maybe with him, I can work through my fears of the past--but I'm pretty sure he wants more than just friendship. He wants forever, and I'm not sure I can give it." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
DB109303 Barbarian's Prize: Ice Planet Barbarians, Book 6

Catch Us When We Fall: A Novel
DB109459 12 hours 57 minutes
by Juliette Fay
read by Piper Goodeve
"On her own since the age of eighteen, Cass Macklin dated brilliant, troubled Ben McGreavy, convinced he was the smartest person she'd ever known. They partied their way through their twenties, slowly descending into a bleak world of binge-drinking and broken promises, inebriated for most of a decade. Now Ben is dead, and Cass is broke, homeless, scared...and pregnant. Determined to have a healthy pregnancy and raise Ben's baby, Cass has to find a way to stop drinking and build a stable life for herself and her child. But with no money, skills, or sober friends or family, the task seems insurmountable. At wit's end, Cass turns to the only person with the means to help her: Ben's brother Scott, third basemen for the Boston Red Sox, a man with a temper and problems of his own. The two make a deal that neither one of them is sure they can live up to. As Cass struggles to take control of her life and to ask for help when she needs it, Scott begins to realize there's a life for him beyond the baseball diamond. By turns heartbreaking and humorous, with its message that change is possible, that forgiveness can be freely given, and that life, though imperfect, is worth embracing, Catch Us When We Fall is a story of human connectedness and hope." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
DB109459 Catch Us When We Fall: A Novel

Dangerous Tides
DB92210 13 hours 41 minutes
by Christine Feehan
read by Richard Ferrone
Dr. Libby Drake uses her incredible healing powers to help mend the emotionally scarred Ty Derrick. But their burgeoning relationship is threatened by a mysterious man who wants to use Libby's talents for his own dark purposes. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2011.
DB92210 Dangerous Tides

Dark Destiny
DB97679 14 hours 13 minutes
by Christine Feehan
read by Richard Ferrone
As a child, Destiny's family was murdered and she was transformed into a Carpathian--a powerful and shadowy creature of the night, but not quite a vampire. Destiny shares a telepathic connection with Nicolae, her mentor. But now Nicolae needs to find her, or he may succumb to darkness forever. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2011.
DB97679 Dark Destiny

Unbreakable
DB109206 9 hours 21 minutes
by Melanie Harlow
read by Lacey Lawrence
"In hindsight, I should not have had that fifth mimosa at Breakfast with Santa. Or the sixth, seventh, and eighth. Even if the mic-drop moment that resulted was worth the looks on my former friends? faces. For the sake of my children and my pride, I pack up and head for my childhood home and the small town where I grew up. Cloverleigh Farms would be the perfect place for a fresh start. Falling for Henry DeSantis wasn't part of the plan. Sure, he's easy on the eyes and hard in the bedroom (also the hallway, the bathtub, and on top of his desk), but things between us are moving too fast, and I'm afraid neither one of us is ready for what it might mean. But Henry makes me feel beautiful and sexy and wanted and strong--things I haven't felt in years. We understand each other, and when I'm in his arms, I'm tempted to trust again. To love again. To let myself be loved without fear. But deep down, I'm terrified. Is this all too much, too soon? Or am I a fool to let a second chance at happily ever after pass me by?" -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2020.
DB109206 Unbreakable

The Law of Moses: Law of Moses Series, Book 1
DB109678 11 hours 34 minutes
by Amy Harmon
read by Tavia Gilbert
"Someone found him in a laundry basket at the Quick Wash, wrapped in a towel, a few hours old and close to death. They called him "Baby Moses" when they shared his story on the ten o'clock news. It all happened before I was born, and by the time I met Moses and my mom told me all about him, the story was old news and nobody wanted anything to do with him. People love babies, even sick babies. Even crack babies. But babies grow up to be kids, and kids grow up to be teenagers. Nobody wants a messed up teenager. And Moses was messed up. Moses was a law unto himself. But he was also strange and exotic and beautiful. To be with him would change my life in ways I could never have imagined. Maybe I should have stayed away. Maybe I should have listened. My mother warned me. Even Moses warned me. But I didn't stay away." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2014.
DB109678 The Law of Moses: Law of Moses Series, Book 1

Someone to Cherish
DB109537 15 hours 6 minutes
by Cheryl Holt
read by Elizabeth Rose
"Caroline Grey was just four years old when she was found stranded and alone by navy sailors on a deserted island in the Caribbean. When she was returned to England, she enjoyed a brief burst of notoriety. Who was she? Who had her parents been? Ultimately, she was claimed by her dour, miserly relatives who've treated her like an unwanted pauper. She's spent her life trying to be accepted by those who should love her, but her haunting past has created too many obstacles. It's difficult to fit in.... Caleb Ralston is a wealthy, infamous gambler who's raging against the unfairness of life. After spending a decade in the navy, he was forced out of the post he treasured as he struggled to protect others from a scandal. As a result, he vowed to become very rich so he could avenge himself against the sort of affluent oafs who've always disdained him.... When he meets Caroline, he's intrigued by her beauty and pluck, but she's part of the world he loathes, and he could never bind himself to her. But Fate and destiny have other plans for Caleb, and Caroline might turn out to be just the woman he needs...." -- Provided by publisher. Some explicit descriptions of sex. 2020.
DB109537 Someone to Cherish

Night Song
DB109823 11 hours 49 minutes
by Beverly Jenkins
read by Kim Staunton
"A Traitorous Heart...Cara Lee Henson knows no soldier can be trusted to stay in one place--and that includes handsome Sergeant Chase Jefferson of the Tenth Cavalry. Dallying with the dashing man in blue could cost the pretty, independent Kansas schoolteacher her job and her reputation. So Cara is determined to repel Chase's advances--even though her aloof facade barely masks her smoldering desire. A Blazing Passion...Never before has Chase longed for a woman the way he ached for lovely Cara Lee. The strong-willed ebony beauty, however, will not surrender easily. But with tender words and soulful caresses, Chase intends to conquer the reluctant schoolmarm's misgivings--and teach her how to love fully, sensuously...and forever." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB109823 Night Song

To Desire a Wicked Duke: The Courtship Wars Series, Book 6
DB109525 11 hours 43 minutes
by Nicole Jordan
read by Terry Donnelly
"Two years after losing her beloved fiancé to war, Tess Blanchard feels ready to chance love again. Thus she's aghast when a threatening scandal forces her to wed her longtime nemesis, Ian Sutherland, Duke of Rotham. The impossibly arrogant, irresistibly seductive nobleman is the last man Tess could ever imagine loving. Making matters worse, she discovers secrets in Rotham's wicked past that send her fleeing London for his remote castle in Cornwall. Having long desired Tess, Ian is exasperated that the ton thinks he's driven his reluctant new bride from their marriage bed and follows hard on her heels. Naturally, their spirited rivalry leads to glorious, pleasure-filled nights--complicated by a mysterious ghost who haunts Ian's castle and Tess's vexing insistence that he play matchmaker to her friends. But can blazing desire between two warring hearts turn into wedded bliss and timeless love?" -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2011.
DB109525 To Desire a Wicked Duke: The Courtship Wars Series, Book 6

The Mogul and the Muscle: A Bluewater Billionaires Romantic Comedy
DB108362 12 hours 37 minutes
by Claire Kingsley
read by Elizabeth Rose
"Cameron Whitbury is used to engineering her way out of any problem. But someone is after her, and she doesn't know who or why. Throw in the threat of a sex scandal and the frustrating antics of the entitled son of her company's founder, and she might be in over her head. But sacrifice her privacy to an overprotective bodyguard? No thanks. She doesn't need a six-foot-five, motorcycle-riding, square-jawed, hazel-eyed man-beast shadowing her every move. Jude Ellis is ready to retire from the cloak and dagger stuff to live a normal life. He doesn't need another client. Not even one with coppery-red hair and mile-long legs who looks hot AF in a sexy pair of heels. To appease her worried friends, Cameron hires Jude as her bodyguard. And despite their feisty banter and their rampant--and totally inappropriate--sex fantasies, they're both determined to keep it professional. But as the danger to Cameron escalates, the heat simmering between them just might combust." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2019.
DB108362 The Mogul and the Muscle: A Bluewater Billionaires Romantic Comedy

The Devil Comes Courting: The Worth Saga, #3
DB109526 15 hours 43 minutes
by Courtney Milan
read by Terry Donnelly
"Captain Grayson Hunter knows the battle to complete the first worldwide telegraphic network will be fierce, and he intends to win it by any means necessary. When he hears about a reclusive genius who has figured out how to slash the cost of telegraphic transmissions, he vows to do whatever it takes to get the man in his employ. Except the reclusive genius is not a man, and she's not looking for employment. Amelia Smith was taken in by English missionaries when she was a child. She's not interested in Captain Hunter's promises or his ambitions. But the harder he tries to convince her, the more she realizes that there is something she wants from him. She wants everything. And she'll have to crack the frozen shell he's made of his heart to get it." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2021.
DB109526 The Devil Comes Courting: The Worth Saga, #3

Country Strong
DB98494 11 hours 3 minutes
by Linda Lael Miller
read by Linda Lael Miller
Montana rancher Cord Hollister is shaken when a girl arrives in Painted Pony Creek who looks like Reba, the woman who broke his teenage heart. Even though Shallie Fletcher had an unrequited crush on Cord in school she still seeks his help starting a therapeutic riding program for kids. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB98494 Country Strong

Gimme S'More: Hot Cakes Series
DB108756 11 hours 6 minutes
by Erin Nicholas
read by Jill Fox
"Oliver's a dreamer who is always ready for the next big adventure. Piper's the steady one who keeps his feet on the ground. He's wildly successful, thanks to her always being there to catch him when he leaps before he looks. But she wants more. While he's as clueless as ever. So she just gave her two weeks notice. Ollie doesn't know how he'll survive without Piper. So for the next two weeks, he'll be sticking to her like the marshmallows on the s'mores she loves so much. But does he want her as his assistant... or is there a sweeter spot in his life for the woman who's always had his back--and possibly even his heart?" -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2020.
DB108756 Gimme S'More: Hot Cakes Series

Semi-Sweet on You
DB108354 11 hours 6 minutes
by Erin Nicholas
read by Lindsey Pierce
"She broke his heart ten years ago. Now he's back--and her new boss. And she might still be semi in love with him. But that's no problem, right? They can keep it professional. Until her grandmother gets involved. She's thrilled to think that Whitney and Cam are still in love. And invites him to move in with her--and Whitney. Of course, Whitney can handle that too. Yeah, everything is fine. Just fine. Until Cam makes it clear that he's all in. Having him back is very sweet, but can she really have it all? Or will it all crumble around her?" -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2020.
DB108354 Semi-Sweet on You

Wild Open Hearts: A Bluewater Billionaires Romantic Comedy
DB108338 11 hours 2 minutes
by Kathryn Nolan
read by Erin Jones
"Luna da Rosa is America's Vegan Best Friend. The self-made billionaire is a flower-crowned hippie whose Instagram feed is as popular as Wild Heart, her vegan makeup company. When she's not changing the cosmetics industry, she's dazzling her online fans with kombucha recipes--until Wild Heart is caught in a scandal, destroying her reputation as a cheerful do-gooder. Beck Mason is the prodigal son of Miami's most notorious biker gang. But Beck left his criminal family to start Lucky Dog, rescuing dogs who need the most help...except the surly ex-outlaw never realized leading a struggling nonprofit with a ragtag crew would be so damn hard. They're in dire need of cash--and fast. Luna believes working at Lucky Dog will fix her image problem and get Beck the money he needs. It's a win-win, right? Except Beck doesn't like the sunny, free-spirited--okay beautiful--billionaire. He sure as hell doesn't trust Luna not to use him just to make herself look good. Sure, Beck's grumpy, stubborn pride and meat-eating ways irritates Luna. Even though his big-heart-and-big-beard-combo is dangerously sexy. And they really shouldn't have shared The Kiss to End All Kisses on the back of his motorcycle one night... But as the bohemian billionaire and the burly biker give into their electrifying attraction, will their differences keep them apart? Or will they finally learn to trust their wild hearts?" -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2019.
DB108338 Wild Open Hearts: A Bluewater Billionaires Romantic Comedy

Her Wicked Marquess
DB109104 12 hours 7 minutes
by Stacy Reid
read by Mary Sarah
"Miss Maryann FitzWilliam is too witty and bookish for her own good. No gentleman of the ton will marry her, so her parents arrange for her to wed a man old enough to be her father. But Maryann is ready to use those wits to turn herself into a sinful wallflower. When the scandal sheet reports a sighting of Nicolas Ives climbing out the chamber windows of a house party, Maryann does the unthinkable. She anonymously claims that the bedchamber belonged to none other than Miss FitzWilliam, tarnishing her own reputation-and chances of the dastardly union her family secured for her. Now she just needs to convince the marquess to keep his silence. Nicholas Ives, Marquess of Rothbury has purposefully cultivated a reputation as the most ruthless, unprincipled libertine, all so he can slip beneath the guards of those whose vile actions caused him to lose the only girl he's ever loved. Despite his intrigue, Nicolas is determined to ignore the deceitful and enticing Miss FitzWilliam. However, his enemies are drawing close, and he soon discovers he must keep her closer to protect her. " -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB109104 Her Wicked Marquess

The Hookup Plan
DB109479 10 hours 20 minutes
by Farrah Rochon
read by Marissa Hampton
"Successful pediatric surgeon London Kelley just needs to find some balance and de-stress. According to her friends Samiah and Taylor, what London really needs is a casual hookup. A night of fun with no strings. But no one--least of all London--expected it to go down at her high school reunion with Drew Sullivan, millionaire, owner of delicious abs, and oh yes, her archnemesis. Now London is certain the road to hell is paved with good sex. Because she's found out the real reason Drew is back in Austin: to decide whether her beloved hospital remains open. Worse, Drew is doing everything he can to show her that he's a decent guy who actually cares. But London's not falling for it. Because while sleeping with the enemy is one thing, falling for him is definitely not part of the plan." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109479 The Hookup Plan

Smitten
DB108608 9 hours 6 minutes
by Lauren Rowe
read by Barrie Kealoha
"I met Alessandra at a party. Tried to impress her. Was almost positive I was going to fail. I think I said something along the lines of, "I'm a Goat called Fish who's hung like a bull-but not really. I'm actually pretty average." Smooth. I know. Try not to be jealous. When she laughed--and I mean, really laughed--I knew she wasn't like the other girls I'd been meeting on tour. Hell, she wasn't even in the same stratosphere as those fangirls and gold-diggers. At one point during the party, Alessandra said, "There's nothing like a girl's first love." I knew she was talking about the first smash hit by my band, 22 Goats. Alessandra said it was the first song she'd heard by us and it "hit her like a ton of bricks." Ironic, seeing as how I was having the same reaction from being in her presence. I made it my mission to impress her. Give her the kiss of a lifetime that night. But since I've always been the dude with zero game, nothing went according to plan. I'm not giving up, though. I'm going to win this girl over. I'm done sitting on the sidelines, watching the bad boy getting the girl. This time, the nice guy will finish first. Even if it's the last thing he'll do." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. 2018.
DB108608 Smitten

Maggie Moves On
DB108911 13 hours 46 minutes
by Lucy Score
read by Emma Wilder
"Can these opposites turn up the heat... without burning down the house? House-flipping sensation and YouTube star Maggie Nichols can't wait to dig into her next challenge. Arriving in tiny Kinship, Idaho, with only a cot and a coffeemaker, Maggie is prepared to restore a crumbling Victorian mansion in four months or less. She has her to-do lists, her blueprints, and her team. What she doesn't have is time for sexy, laid-back landscaper Silas Wright. The man takes flirtation to a whole new level. And he does it shirtless...sometimes pants-less. He and his service school-dropout dog are impressively persistent. But she's not interested in putting down roots. Not when fans tune in to watch her travel the country turning dilapidated houses into dream homes. A short-term fling on the other hand could fit nicely into her calendar. After all, Maggie remembers what fun is like. Vaguely. As their summer gets downright steamy, Silas manages to demolish the emotional walls she's spent years building, sending Maggie into a panic. He's the wrench in her carefully constructed plans. With the end of the project looming, she has a decision to make. But how can she stay when her entire career is built on moving on?" -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB108911 Maggie Moves On

The Price of Scandal: A Bluewater Billionaires Romantic Comedy
DB108339 11 hours 45 minutes
by Lucy Score
read by Abigail Maupin
"Emily Stanton's perfect life just became a disaster. She's got a trust fund brother looking for a handout, a father who is more board member than dad, and a mother who thinks she should give up on this whole billionaire CEO thing and meet a man with a pre-nup and a yacht. Oh, and then there's that "misunderstanding" with law enforcement witnessed by Miami's paparazzi. Now her billion-dollar deal is on the line and there's a naked man in her bathtub who claims he's going to make all her problems disappear. Charming--and happy to bend the rules when necessary--Derek Price has made a living polishing the tarnished images of the rich and famous. He's never lost and he never takes clients to bed. Until the dazzling Emily. Derek promised her a win and offered up a lifetime supply of orgasms as part of the deal. But if he can't stop her enemies, he'll end up losing much more than he bargained for." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2019.
DB108339 The Price of Scandal: A Bluewater Billionaires Romantic Comedy

Riley Thorn and the Blast from the Past
DB108991 8 hours 27 minutes
by Lucy Score
read by Dolly Lewis
"Riley Thorn and her hot, tattooed, private investigator boyfriend are all moved in to their new fixer-upper. Not only do they finally have their own place, they also haven't found any new dead bodies on the premises. Yep. It looks like summer is over and so is Riley's bad luck. Or is it? While Nick gives up sleeping and showering to obsess over the cold case that still haunts him, his business partner Mrs. Penny is calling the investigative shots. It's every bit as bad as you can imagine. Meanwhile, Riley has her hands full fixing up the crumbling crime scene they call home and setting boundaries with the breaking-and-entering octogenarians next door. You know. Normal stuff. But normal comes to a screeching halt when our favorite psychic is abducted by a stranger with candy, and her powers go on the fritz. To make matters worse, it becomes clear that Riley's new house guests are definitely either in trouble or are trouble after bad guys deliver a warning with a severed finger. Can Nick and Riley solve the case the old-fashioned way before they all end up in pieces? Or will a surprise birthday party, a dog doody bandit, an accidental arson, and a blast from the past be too much for them to handle?" -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2022.
DB108991 Riley Thorn and the Blast from the Past

Soar High: Sons of the Survivalist, 4
DB108603 12 hours 58 minutes
by Cherise Sinclair
read by Sandra Murphy
"She survived. Kit survived her abusive husband. Survived imprisonment and beatings from the Patriot Zealots. Now free and healing, she can make a new life for herself and her son--except he has attached himself to a terrifying, scarred, tattooed ex-mercenary. Women take one look at him and flee. An ugly childhood and combat left Hawk with scars, a rasping voice, and an aversion to talking. So, why in hell does the four-year-old stick to him like glue? The kid's pretty mother is smarter. There's fear in her eyes when she looks at Hawk. That hurts. The sweet woman is everything he's ever wanted--loving, affectionate, and patient. But after what she's been through, she sure won't want to be around men--especially the one who killed her husband. He'd saved her. Kit agrees with her son. Being near Hawk is the safest place on earth. Beneath the menacing appearance, he's protective--and kind. The better she gets to know him, the more she sees him as a man--a very sexy man. But, considering what had happened to her, she knows--no man would want her now." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language, explicit descriptions of sex and some violence. 2021.
DB108603 Soar High: Sons of the Survivalist, 4

All Rhodes Lead Here
DB109042 18 hours 48 minutes
by Mariana Zapata
read by Pilar Witherspoon
"Losing people you love is hard. Aurora De La Torre knows moving back to a place that was once home isn't going to be easy. Starting your whole life over probably isn't supposed to be. But a small town in the mountains might be the perfect remedy for a broken heart. Checking out her landlord across the driveway just might cure it too." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2021.
DB109042 All Rhodes Lead Here

Science Fiction

Fated Blades
DB108357 6 hours 14 minutes
by Ilona Andrews
read by Mary March
"At first glance, the planet Rada seems like a lush paradise. But the ruling families, all boasting genetically enhanced abilities, are in constant competition for power--and none more so than the Adlers and the Baenas. For generations, the powerful families have pushed and pulled each other in a dance for dominance. Until a catastrophic betrayal from within changes everything. Now, deadly, disciplined, and solitary leaders Ramona Adler and Matias Baena must put aside their enmity and work together in secret to prevent sinister forces from exploiting universe-altering technology. Expecting to suffer through their uneasy alliance, Ramona and Matias instead discover that they understand each other as no one in their families can--and that their combined skills may eclipse the risks of their forbidden alliance. As the two warriors risk their lives to save their families, they must decide whether to resist or embrace the passion simmering between them. For now, the dance between their families continues--but just one misstep could spell the end of them both." -- Provided by publisher. Violence, strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2021.
DB108357 Fated Blades

Here and Now and Then
DB94253 9 hours 57 minutes
by Mike Chen
read by Cary Hite
Kin Stewart lives an average life with his family and career in IT. But his previous career was as a time-traveling secret agent from 2142. Eighteen years after Kin was stranded in 1990s San Francisco, his rescue team arrives to return him to 2142. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.
DB94253 Here and Now and Then

Child Zero
DB109311 10 hours 10 minutes
by Chris Holm
read by Robert Petkoff
"It began four years ago with a worldwide uptick of bacterial infections: meningitis in Frankfurt, cholera in Johannesburg, tuberculosis in New Delhi. Although the outbreaks spread aggressively and proved impervious to our drugs of last resort, public health officials initially dismissed them as unrelated. They were wrong. Antibiotic resistance soon roiled across the globe. Diseases long thought beaten came surging back. The death toll skyrocketed. Then New York City was ravaged by the most heinous act of bioterror the world had ever seen, perpetrated by a new brand of extremist bent on pushing humanity to extinction. Detective Jacob Gibson, who lost his wife in the 8/17 attack, is home caring for his sick daughter when his partner summons him to a sprawling shantytown in Central Park, the apparent site of a mass murder. Jake is startled to discover that, despite a life of abject squalor, the victims died in perfect health--and his only hope of finding answers is a twelve-year-old boy on the run from some very dangerous men." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109311 Child Zero

Under Fortunate Stars
DB108361 13 hours 28 minutes
by Ren Hutchings
read by Shawn Hertel
"Fleeing the final days of the generations-long war with the alien Felen, smuggler Jereth Keeven's freighter the Jonah breaks down in a strange rift in deep space, with little chance of rescue--until they encounter the research vessel Gallion, which claims to be from 152 years in the future. The Gallion's chief engineer Uma Ozakka has always been fascinated with the past, especially the tale of the Fortunate Five, who ended the war with the Felen. When the Gallion rescues a run-down junk freighter, Ozakka is shocked to recognize the Five's legendary ship--and the Five's famed leader, Eldric Leesongronski, among the crew. But nothing else about Leesongronski and his crewmates seems to match up with the historical record. With their ships running out of power in the rift, more than the lives of both crews may be at stake." -- Provided by publisher. 2022.
DB108361 Under Fortunate Stars

Primitives
DB108363 16 hours 41 minutes
by Erich Krauss
read by Elizabeth Rose
"Thirty years after The Great Fatigue infected the globe--and the treatment regressed most of the human race to a primitive state--Seth Keller makes a gruesome discovery in his adoptive father's makeshift lab. This revelation forces him to leave the safety of his desert home and the only other person left in the world--at least, as far as he knows. Three thousand miles away in the jungles of Costa Rica, Sarah Peoples has made her own discovery--just as horrific, and just as life-changing. It will take her far from the fledgling colony of New Haven, yet never out of reach of its ruthless authoritarian leader. On separate journeys a world apart, Seth and Sarah find themselves swept up in a deadly race to save humankind. Their fates will come crashing together in an epic struggle between good and evil, where the differences aren't always clear. Among the grim realities of civilization's demise, they discover that the remaining survivors may pose an even greater threat than the abominations they were taught to fear. Fighting for their lives, they're confronted with a haunting question. Does humanity deserve to survive?" -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. 2022.
DB108363 Primitives

An Ocean of Minutes
DB91863 8 hours 1 minutes
by Thea Lim
read by Thea Lim
As America is gripped by a flu pandemic, Polly agrees to travel to the future as a bonded laborer to pay for her boyfriend Frank's treatment. They plan to rendezvous, but Polly is routed an extra five years into the future and Frank is nowhere to be found. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
DB91863 An Ocean of Minutes

A Memory Called Empire
DB94528 15 hours 39 minutes
by Arkady Martine
read by Amy Landon
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare discovers that the death of her predecessor at a small independent mining station in the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire may not have been an accident. She must discover the killer, rescue herself, and save her station from expansion while navigating an alien culture. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.
DB94528 A Memory Called Empire

The Animals in That Country
DB109214 9 hours 11 minutes
by Laura Jean McKay
read by Lindsey Pierce
"Hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, and allergic to bullshit, Jean is not your usual grandma. She's never been good at getting on with other humans, apart from her beloved granddaughter, Kimberly. Instead, she surrounds herself with animals, working as a guide in an outback wildlife park. And although Jean talks to all her charges, she has a particular soft spot for a young dingo called Sue. As disturbing news arrives of a pandemic sweeping the country, Jean realises this is no ordinary flu: its chief symptom is that its victims begin to understand the language of animals--first mammals, then birds and insects, too. As the flu progresses, the unstoppable voices become overwhelming, and many people begin to lose their minds, including Jean's infected son, Lee. When he takes off with Kimberly, heading south, Jean feels the pull to follow her kin. Setting off on their trail, with Sue the dingo riding shotgun, they find themselves in a stark, strange world in which the animal apocalypse has only further isolated people from other species. Bold, exhilarating, and wholly original, The Animals in That Country asks what would happen, for better or worse, if we finally understood what animals were saying." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language, some violence and some descriptions of sex. 2020.
DB109214 The Animals in That Country

Crystal Dragon
DB109754 16 hours 39 minutes
by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee
read by Carol Jacobanis
"What do you do when home is a conspiracy that's been discovered and destroyed? When home is a planet in a star system that's gone missing? When home means working for the destroyers of galaxies When home is a spaceship that's calling out to the enemy? Cantra yos'Phelium isn't a quitter, but she has more than a little problem: the Enemy has accelerated its attacks and how do you fight an Enemy whose, major form of attack is the de-crystallization of everything around itself? A smuggler with a rogue soldier for a co-pilot, and a tree with an attitude for crew, Cantra's the only one who can get close to the man who holds equations that might, that just might, thwart the Enemy. All she has to do is help a young pilot from a missing world, juggle a slippery promise she never quite made to a pair of wizards, and then forget who she is along with everything, and everyone, she's ever known." -- Provided by publisher. Violence and some strong language. 2007.
DB109754 Crystal Dragon

Crystal Soldier
DB109753 14 hours 17 minutes
by Steve Miller and Sharon
read by Carol Jacobanis
"In a galaxy worn down by generations of war against an implacable foe, a star pilot's mission brings him an unexpected ally and a chance to serve his troop--and mankind. M. Jela Granthor's Guard is a soldier who was born to be a soldier, a solider whose genes were selected before birth, whose life was chosen for him as one of service and dedication. Cantra yos'Phelium is an ace pilot and a thoroughgoing rogue. She trades the dark and the gray markets along the war-torn Rim, running solo, and with an eye firmly on her own profit. When chance deals her an ex-soldier, she's inclined to leave him where she found him. That was before mutual trouble arose, and Jela proved himself a good man in a tight spot. Still, she thought to ditch him next planet down the line. Only he wasn't being easy to ditch. Worse, he had a puzzle going that just naturally drew a pilot's close attention. So the two of them form an unlikely--and uncomfortable--alliance, the soldier intent on his mission; the pirate intent on her survival. And neither one, in the face of alien technology, outlaws, and the enemy's renewed assaults, can quite forget a life lesson shared by people who live on the edge of chance: Sometimes, no matter what, you're just going to lose . . . ." -- Provided by publisher. Violence and some strong language. 2007.
DB109753 Crystal Soldier

Within Without: A Nyquist Mystery
DB108367 12 hours 26 minutes
by Jeff Noon
read by Guy Williams
"In the year 1960, private eye John Nyquist arrives in Delirium, a city of a million borders, to pursue his strangest case yet: tracking down the stolen sentient image of faded rock'n'roll star Vince Craven. As Nyquist tracks Vince's image through Delirium, crossing a series of ever-stranger and more surreal borderzones, he hears tantalising stories of a First Border, Omata, hidden within the depths of the city. But to find it, he'll have to cross into the fractured minds of Delirium's residents, and even into his own." -- Provided by publisher. Some violence and some strong language. 2021.
DB108367 Within Without: A Nyquist Mystery

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words
DB109654 9 hours 44 minutes
by Eddie Robson
read by Amy Scanlon
"Eddie Robson's Drunk on All Your Strange New Words is a locked-room mystery in a near-future world of politics and alien diplomacy. Lydia works as translator for the Logi cultural attach‚ to Earth. They work well together, even if the act of translating his thoughts into English makes her somewhat wobbly on her feet. She's not the agency's best translator, but what else is she going to do? She has no qualifications and no discernible talent in any other field. So when tragedy strikes and Lydia finds herself at the center of an intergalactic incident, her future employment prospects look dire--that is, if she can keep herself out of jail! But Lydia soon discovers that help can appear from the most unexpected source." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109654 Drunk on All Your Strange New Words

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Twelve
DB109015 26 hours 49 minutes
by Jonathan Strahan
read by Mimi Chang
"The latest in a series that has been called "a must-read for fans of science fiction, fantasy, and short stories in general." Science fiction is a portal that opens doors onto futures too rich and strange to imagine. Fantasy takes us through doorways of magic and wonder. For more than a decade award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan has sifted through tens of thousands of stories to select the best, the most interesting, the most engaging science fiction and fantasy to thrill and delight readers." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
DB109015 The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Twelve

Walk the Vanished Earth
DB109309 12 hours 13 minutes
by Erin Swan
read by Dylan Moore
"The year is 1873, and a bison hunter named Samson travels the Kansas plains, full of hope for his new country. The year is 1975, and an adolescent girl named Bea walks those very same plains; pregnant, mute, and raised in extreme seclusion, she lands in an institution, where a well-meaning psychiatrist struggles to decipher the pictures she draws of her past. The year is 2027 and, after a series of devastating storms, a tenacious engineer named Paul has left behind his banal suburban existence to build a floating city above the drowned streets that were once New Orleans. There with his poet daughter he rules over a society of dreamers and vagabonds who salvage vintage dresses, ferment rotgut wine out of fruit, paint murals on the ceiling of the Superdome, and try to write the story of their existence. The year is 2073, and Moon has heard only stories of the blue planet--Earth, as they once called it, now succumbed entirely to water. Now that Moon has come of age, she could become a mother if she wanted to--if only she understood what a mother is. Alone on Mars with her two alien uncles, she must decide whether to continue her family line and repopulate humanity on a new planet. A sweeping family epic, told over seven generations, as America changes and so does its dream, Walk the Vanished Earth explores ancestry, legacy, motherhood, the trauma we inherit, and the power of connection in the face of our planet's imminent collapse. This is a story about the end of the world--but it is also about the beginning of something entirely new. Thoughtful, warm, and wildly prescient, this work of bright imagination promises that, no matter what the future looks like, there is always room for hope." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109309 Walk the Vanished Earth

Empire of Man
DB108210 37 hours 12 minutes
by David Weber and John
read by Doug Tisdale Jr.
"Roger Ramius MacClintock was young, handsome, athletic, an excellent dresser, and third in line for the Throne of Man. It probably wasn't too surprising that someone in his position should react by becoming spoiled, self-centered, and petulant. After all, what else did he have to do with his life? Then warships of the Empire of Man's worst rivals shoot his crippled vessel out of space and Roger is shipwrecked on the planet Marduk, whose jungles are full of deadly predators and barbarian hordes with really bad dispositions. Now all Roger has to do is hike halfway around the entire planet, then capture a spaceport from the Bad Guys, somehow commandeer a starship, and then go home to Mother for explanations. Fortunately, Roger has an ace in the hole: Bravo Company of Bronze Battalion of The Empress' Own Regiment. If anyone can get him off Marduk alive, it's the Bronze Barbarians." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some violence. 2014.
DB108210 Empire of Man

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory
DB108313 0 hours 25 minutes
by Martha Wells
read by Kristin Allison
"Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory" is a short story set in the world of Martha Well's Murderbot Diaries. This story was originally given free to readers who pre-ordered Network Effect, the fifth entry in the series. The events of "Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory" occur just after the fourth novella, Exit Strategy." -- Provided by publisher. Some violence and some strong language. 2021.
DB108313 Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory

Padawan: Star Wars
DB109667 7 hours 35 minutes
by Kiersten White
read by Gary Furlong
"Obi-Wan Kenobi has not been apprenticed long to Qui-Gon Jinn, and he is chafing at Qui-Gon's training style: all meditation, no action. Obi-Wan yearns to prove himself on a mission, but when he and Qui-Gon are finally set to leave on an assignment, Qui-Gon is nowhere to be found. Angered by his master's abandonment, Obi-Wan sets out on the mission alone, determined to prove himself. On a mysterious planet he encounters a pack of feral, Force-wielding teens who seem to be the planet's only inhabitants. As he experiences wild freedom with them and wonders if this isn't the life he was meant for, Obi-Wan can't escape the nagging sense that something is wrong with the Force there. Growing attachments, startling revelations, and a looming threat to both the planet and his new friends will bring Obi-Wan face-to-face with his worst fear: that maybe he was never supposed to be a Jedi at all. Can he connect with the living Force in time to save himself and everyone around him?" -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For junior and senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109667 Padawan: Star Wars

Friends for Robots: Short Stories
DB108593 6 hours 51 minutes
by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor
read by Mary March
"In this upbeat, positive collection of SFF short stories from Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, author of So You Want to Be A Robot, you'll find hope, humor, friendship--and of course, robots. Have you heard the one about...a neural network who wants humans to drink more water? ...a person stranded on Mars with only an obsolete robotic toy?...a cyborg caught in a time loop with a frightened ship?...a self-aware mech who doesn't want to be a weapon anymore?...an AI sent into the deepest part of the ocean--finds a god? You'll also meet entrepreneurial barbarians, an astronaut making first contact, a boy who might have (accidentally) started Armageddon, magical birds, a bot who wants to tell jokes, and more. Whether you're a robot or not, come make some new friends." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. 2021.
DB108593 Friends for Robots: Short Stories

Short Stories

Homesickness
DB108328 6 hours 44 minutes
by Colin Barrett
read by Jessica Wortham
"When Colin Barrett's debut Young Skins published, it swept up several major literary awards, and, in both its linguistic originality and sharply drawn portraits of working-class Ireland, earned Barrett comparisons to Faulkner, Hardy, and Musil. Now, in a blistering follow up collection, Barrett brings together eight character-driven stories, each showcasing his inimitably observant eye and darkly funny style. A quiet night in a local pub is shattered by the arrival of a sword wielding fugitive; a funeral party teeters on the edge of this world and the next, as ghosts simply won't lay in wake; a shooting sees a veteran policewoman confront the banality of her own existence; and an aspiring writer grapples with his father's cancer diagnosis and in his despair wreaks havoc on his mentor's life." -- Provided by publisher. Some violence, some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2022.
DB108328 Homesickness

Seasons of Purgatory
DB109146 5 hours 44 minutes
by Shahriar Mandanipour
read by Fajer Al-Kaisi
"The first English-language story collection from "one of Iran's most important living fiction writers" (Guardian). In Seasons of Purgatory, the fantastical and the visceral merge in tales of tender desire and collective violence, the boredom and brutality of war, and the clash of modern urban life and rural traditions. Mandanipour, banned from publication in his native Iran, vividly renders the individual consciousness in extremis from a variety of perspectives: young and old, man and woman, conscript and prisoner. While delivering a ferocious social critique, these stories are steeped in the poetry and stark beauty of an ancient land and culture." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109146 Seasons of Purgatory

It's Getting Dark: Stories
DB109195 5 hours 16 minutes
by Peter Stamm
read by James Langton
"Snowed in at a remote artists' residency in Vermont, Peter recalls another Christmas some thirty years earlier, when he met Marcia by chance on a trip to New York City. Only now, in this eerie, isolated place, does he begin to see the consequences of their brief affair through a series of connections. When Hubert asks Sabrina to model for a sculpture, she's flattered and happy to help. But facing the finished product, looking at herself from previously hidden angles, disturbs her, and she becomes determined to follow her double after it's sold to a collector. Uneasy in his own skin and with the humdrum life set out for him, David decides to rob a bank. He already has a mask for the purpose, but won't be using it today. He's heard that bank robbers often study the scene for weeks before they strike. So he's started to lurk. We think we know our world, but then the familiar suddenly turns strange, and even frightening. In these powerfully affecting, minutely constructed stories, Peter Stamm illustrates how fragile our reality really is, how susceptible to tricks of the heart and mind.." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB109195 It's Getting Dark: Stories

Suspense and Thrillers

Her Name Is Knight
DB106439 13 hours 12 minutes
by Yasmin Angoe
read by Dawn Ursula
Nena Knight is an elite assassin for a powerful business syndicate. But when she's on assignment in Miami, she saves a life instead of taking one. When she finds out a new syndicate was the man who sold her into captivity, her new mission is vengeance. Violence and strong language. 2021.
DB106439 Her Name Is Knight

Alive
DB107256 1 hours 22 minutes
by Sharon Bolton
read by Paige O'Malley
In the spring and early summer of 1969, three children go missing from the English town of Sabden. All three have the unfortunate luck of crossing paths with the killer known as the Craftsman. Some violence. 2018.
DB107256 Alive

Into the Sublime
DB109533 10 hours 10 minutes
by Kate A. Boorman
read by Mary March
"Four girls from a defunct thrill-seeking group descend into a dangerous underground cave system in search of a subterranean lake that local legends claim has the power to change things for those who can confront their deepest fears." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language and some violence. For senior high and older readers. 2015.
DB109533 Into the Sublime

The Displacements
DB109018 13 hours 38 minutes
by Bruce Holsinger
read by Austenne Grey
"To all appearances, the Larsen-Hall family has everything: healthy children, a stable marriage, a lucrative career for Brantley, and the means for Daphne to pursue her art full-time. Their deluxe new Miami life has just clicked into place when Luna--the world's first category 6 hurricane--upends everything they have taken for granted. When the storm makes landfall, it triggers a descent of another sort. Their home destroyed, two of its members missing, and finances abruptly cut off, the family finds everything they assumed about their lives now up for grabs. Swept into a mass rush of evacuees from across the American South, they are transported hundreds of miles to a FEMA megashelter where their new community includes an insurance-agent-turned-drug dealer, a group of vulnerable children, and a dedicated relief worker trying to keep the peace. Will "normal" ever return? A suspenseful read plotted on a vast national tapestry, The Displacements thrillingly explores what happens when privilege is lost and resilience is tested in a swiftly changing world." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109018 The Displacements

The Truth about Melody Browne
DB109492 10 hours 28 minutes
by Lisa Jewell
read by Antonia Beamish
"When she was nine years old, Melody Browne's house burned down, and it took all of her childhood memories with it. Now she's a single mother of a teenage boy living in Central London. She hasn't seen her parents since she left home at fifteen, but she doesn't mind. She's better off on her own. She works as a dinner lady at her son's school and has no idea where her humdrum life is heading. But one summer's night, a hypnotist inadvertently unlocks memories of her childhood, and her whole life is turned upside down. At first, these new memories mean nothing to her, but as Melody slowly begins to piece together the real story of her childhood, she begins to uncover mystery after mystery and wonders if she'll ever know the truth about her past...." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB109492 The Truth about Melody Browne

Vendetta
DB93418 15 hours 1 minutes
by Iris Johansen
read by Elisabeth Rodgers
With his dying breath, the head of the CIA terrorism task force commands Jude Brandon to keep his daughter safe. But Rachel Venable's own shocking past reemerges when the man who murdered her father and kept her imprisoned for months attacks her Guyana medical clinic. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
DB93418 Vendetta

The Gunman
DB109271 4 hours 48 minutes
by Jean-Patrick Manchette
read by Ralph Lister
"A gripping noir masterpiece and New York Times Notable Book, The Gunman
is now a major motion picture starring Sean Penn. Martin Terrier is a hired killer who wants out of the game so he can settle down and marry his childhood sweetheart. But the organization won't let him go--they have other plans for him. In a violent tale that shatters as many illusions as bodies, Jean-Patrick Manchette subjects his characters and listeners alike to a fierce exercise in style. This tightly plotted, corrosive parody of "the success story" is widely considered to be Manchette's masterpiece--a classic of modern noir." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2015.
DB109271 The Gunman

The Fell
DB107865 3 hours 54 minutes
by Sarah Moss
read by Kristin Allison
While out for a walk--despite being in the middle of a mandatory two-week quarantine period--Kate falls. She's injured, unable to move, and realizes that her furtive stroll will turn into a mountain rescue or even a missing persons case. She reflects on where her life has taken her. Strong language and some violence. 2022.
DB107865 The Fell

Interference
DB108601 11 hours 43 minutes
by Brad Parks
read by Lindsey Pierce
"Quantum physicist Matt Bronik is suffering from strange, violent seizures that medical science seems powerless to explain--much to the consternation of his wife, Brigid. Matt doesn't think these fits could be related to his research, which he has always described as benign and esoteric. That, it turns out, is not quite true: Matt has been prodding the mysteries of the quantum universe, with terrible repercussions for his health. And perhaps even for humanity as a whole. Then, in the midst of another seizure, Matt disappears. When foul play is feared, there is no shortage of suspects. Matt's research had gained the attention of Chinese competitors, an unscrupulous billionaire, and the Department of Defense, among others. With Matt's life in clear danger, Brigid sets out to find him. Will Matt be killed before she reaches him, or could the physics that endangered him actually be used to save his life?" -- Provided by publisher. Some violence and some strong language. 2020.
DB108601 Interference

A Lonely Man
DB108036 7 hours 59 minutes
by Chris Power
read by Gabriella Cavallero
A chance meeting in Berlin connects two British writers. Robert is struggling to finish his next book while living up to his duties as a husband and father. Patrick turns out to be the ghostwriter of a Russian oligarch's autobiography. When the oligarch turns up dead, Patrick and Robert are ensnared in what may be an international plot. Violence and strong language. 2021.
DB108036 A Lonely Man

I Dare You
DB107867 1 hours 28 minutes
by Jeff Ross
read by Stephen Van Doren
After a schoolyard fight video goes viral, two schoolmates convince Rainey to make another one about a mysterious figure in the woods. The teens decide to make a follow-up video, but then their prank goes horribly wrong. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. For senior high and older readers. 2021.
DB107867 I Dare You

Tower of Babel
DB108835 12 hours 21 minutes
by Michael Sears
read by Richard Poe
"Shamus Award-winning author Michael Sears brings Queens, New York, to literary life. Queens, New York--the most diverse place on earth. Native son Ted Molloy knows these streets like the back of his hand. Ted was once a high-powered Manhattan lawyer, but after a spectacular fall from grace, he has found himself back on his home turf, scraping by as a foreclosure profiteer. It's a grubby business, but a safe one--until Ted's case sourcer, a mostly reformed small-time conman named Richie Rubiano, turns up murdered shortly after tipping Ted off to an improbably lucrative lead. With Richie's widow on his back and shadows of the past popping up at every turn, Ted realizes he's gotten himself embroiled in a murder investigation. His quest for the truth will take him all over Queens, plunging him into the machinations of greedy developers, mobsters, enraged activists, old litigator foes and old-school New York City operators." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
DB108835 Tower of Babel

Who We Were in the Dark
DB109153 11 hours 41 minutes
by Jessica Taylor
read by Jeremy Carlisle Parker
"Donner Lake is famous for its dazzling waters, dramatic mountains, and the travelers trapped there long ago who did unspeakable things to survive. But for lonely Nora Sharpe, Donner was where a girl named Grace glided into her life one night and exploded her world. After that, every summer, winter, and spring break, Nora, her brother, Wesley, the enigmatic Grace, and their friend Rand left behind their real lives and reunited at Donner Lake. There, they traded truth and lies. They fell in love. They pushed each other too far. They came to know one another better than anyone in some ways, and not at all in others. But two years later, something has happened to destroy them. Grace is missing. And Nora must find her way through the unspoken hurts and betrayals of the last two years--and find her way back to Wesley and Rand--to figure out what exactly happened to Grace, the girl she thought she knew." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109153 Who We Were in the Dark

War Stories

The Hill: A Novel
DB109197 16 hours 57 minutes
by Leonard B. Scott
read by Jared Zak
"Many good men would die, or survive forever scarred, in the fight for Hill 875. Ty is the grunt. The point man for his platoon with the uncanny instincts to see, hear, and smell out the hidden enemy. Jason is the favored one. The football hero picked for officer candidate school who determinedly leads his men into a slaughter ground from which most of them will never return. Ty and Jason, Oklahoma brothers so different in character yet so close to soul, will reunite in the Battle of Dak To and in the harrowing battle for Hill 875--an insignificant piece of ground that will set stranger to kill stranger for no reason at all, and brother to save brother for the one reason that matters." -- Provided by publisher. Violence and strong language. 1995.
DB109197 The Hill: A Novel

Westerns

Assumption
DB109071 7 hours 54 minutes
by Percival Everett
read by Dwayne Glapion
"Ogden Walker, deputy sheriff of a small New Mexico town, is on the trail of an old woman's murderer. But at the crime scene, his are the only footprints leading up to and away from her door. Something is amiss, and even his mother knows it. As other cases pile up, Ogden gives chase, pursuing flimsy leads for even flimsier reasons. His hunt leads him from the seamier side of Denver to a hippie commune as he seeks the puzzling solution." -- Provided by publisher. Violence and strong language. 2011.
DB109071 Assumption

The Drop Edge of Yonder
DB109066 9 hours 41 minutes
by Rudolph Wurlitzer
read by Joe Wilson
"Beginning in the savage wilds of Colorado in the waning days of the fur trade, the story follows Zebulon Shook, a mountain man who has a curse placed on him by a mysterious Native American woman whose lover he murdered, to "drift like a blind man between the worlds, not knowing if you're dead or alive, of if the unseen world exists, or if you're dreaming." Zebulon sets out on the trail from Colorado, venturing to the remote reaches of the Northwest, a journey that traverses the Gulf of Mexico to Panama, and up the coast of California to San Francisco and the gold fields, bringing him face-to-face with mystics and outlaws, politically-minded prison wardens and Russian Counts, each hungry to stake their claim on the American dream." -- Provided by publisher. Violence, strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2017.
DB109066 The Drop Edge of Yonder

Women's Concerns

Flying Solo
DB108713 9 hours 0 minutes
by Linda Holmes
read by Julia Whelan
"Smarting from her recently canceled wedding and about to turn forty, Laurie Sassalyn returns to her Maine hometown of Calcasset to handle the estate of her great-aunt Dot, a spirited adventurer who lived to be ninety-three. Alongside boxes of Polaroids and pottery, a mysterious wooden duck shows up at the bottom of a cedar chest. Laurie's curiosity is piqued, especially after she finds a love letter to the never-married Dot that ends with the line "And anyway, if you're ever desperate, there are always ducks, darling." Laurie is told that the duck has no financial value. But after it disappears under suspicious circumstances, she feels compelled to figure out why anyone would steal a wooden duck--and why Dot kept it hidden away in the first place. Suddenly Laurie finds herself swept up in a righteous caper that has her negotiating with antiques dealers and con artists, going on after-hours dates at the local library, and reconnecting with her oldest friend and her first love. Desperate to uncover her great-aunt's secrets, Laurie must reckon with her own past and her future--and ultimately embrace her own vision of flying solo." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB108713 Flying Solo

Sunset on Moonlight Beach
DB109030 10 hours 17 minutes
by Sheila Roberts
read by Ann Marie Gideon
"Jenna Jones has been standing on the shore of the Sea of Love for too long. Even with two good men interested in her, she's been afraid to wade in. According to her best friend, Courtney, she should. The water's fine. Life is great! Practically perfect, if you don't count Courtney's problems with her cranky ex-boss. Maybe Courtney's right. It's time to dive in. When tragedy strikes, everything changes and Jenna's more confused than ever. But this fresh heartache might help her figure out at last who she can turn to when times get tough." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
DB109030 Sunset on Moonlight Beach

The Lost Ticket
DB109821 9 hours 40 minutes
by Freya Sampson
read by Katharine Lee McEwan
"When Libby Nicholls arrives in London, brokenhearted and with her life in tatters, the first person she meets on the bus is elderly Frank. He tells her about the time in 1962 that he met a girl on the number 88 bus with beautiful red hair just like hers. They made plans for a date at the National Gallery art museum, but Frank lost the bus ticket with her number on it. For the past sixty years, he's ridden the same bus trying to find her, but with no luck. Libby is inspired to action and, with the help of an unlikely companion, she papers the bus route with posters advertising their search. Libby begins to open her guarded heart to new friendships and a budding romance, as her tightly controlled world expands. But with Frank's dementia progressing quickly, their chance of finding the girl on the 88 bus is slipping away. More than anything, Libby wants Frank to see his lost love one more time. But their quest also shows Libby just how important it is to embrace her own chances for happiness--before it's too late--in a beautifully uplifting novel about how a shared common experience among strangers can transform lives in the most marvelous ways." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109821 The Lost Ticket

The Song Remains the Same
DB109677 10 hours 43 minutes
by Allison Winn Scotch
read by Carol Monda
"She's a wife, a sister, a daughter--but she remembers nothing. Now she must ask herself who she is and choose which stories--and storytellers--to trust. One of only two survivors of a plane crash, Nell Slattery wakes up in the hospital with no memory of it, or who she is, or was. Now she must piece together both body and mind with the help of family and friends who have their own agendas. Although Nell can't remember all that came before, something just doesn't sit right with the versions of her history given by her mother, her sister, and her husband. Desperate for a key to unlock her past, she filters through photos, art, music, and stories, hoping that something will jog her memory, and soon, in tiny bits and pieces, Nell starts remembering." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2012.
DB109677 The Song Remains the Same

Adult Nonfiction

Animals and Wildlife

Where Have All the Birds Gone? Nature in Crisis
DB109739 3 hours 35 minutes
by Rebecca E. Hirsch
read by Kerry Dukin
"In the face of rapidly declining bird populations, read about the vast impacts birds have on ecosystems, food systems, and our mental health and what we can do to protect them. Birds are nature's essential workers, crucial members of ecosystems around the world. And they are disappearing. Since 1970, nearly 30 percent of all birds in the United States and Canada have vanished, due to city lights and tall glass skyscrapers; domesticated cats prowling outdoors; pesticides, and climate change. In short, due to humans. Hirsch helps readers discover the impact birds have on our world and explain how you can help save them." -- Provided by publisher. For junior and senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109739 Where Have All the Birds Gone? Nature in Crisis

Arts

Hitchcock and the Censors
DB108613 14 hours 45 minutes
by John Billheimer
read by George Holmes
"Throughout his career, Alfred Hitchcock had to contend with a wide variety of censors attuned to the slightest suggestion of sexual innuendo, undue violence, toilet humor, religious disrespect, and all forms of indecency, real or imagined. From 1934 to 1968, the Motion Picture Production Code Office controlled the content and final cut on all films made and distributed in the United States. During their review of Hitchcock's films, the censors demanded an average of 22.5 changes, ranging from the mundane to the mind-boggling, on each of his American films. In his award-winning Hitchcock and the Censors, author John Billheimer traces the forces that led to the Production Code and describes Hitchcock's interactions with code officials on a film-by-film basis as he fought to protect his creations, bargaining with code reviewers and sidestepping censorship to produce a lifetime of memorable films. Despite the often-arbitrary decisions of the code board, Hitchcock still managed to push the boundaries of sex and violence permitted in films by charming--and occasionally tricking--the censors, and by swapping off bits of dialogue, plot points, and individual shots (some of which had been deliberately inserted as trading chips) to protect cherished scenes and images. By examining Hitchcock's priorities in dealing with the censors, this work highlights the director's theories of suspense as well as his magician-like touch when negotiating with code officials." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. Edgar Award. 2019.
DB108613 Hitchcock and the Censors

Warhol
DB99843 43 hours 33 minutes
by Blake Gopnik
read by Graham Halstead
Art critic presents a biography of artist and provocateur, Andy Warhol (1928-1987). Chronicles his youth in western Pennsylvania, early artistic influences, development of his Pop Art aesthetic, personalities he had relationships and interacted with, famous altercations, and his lasting legacy and influence on popular culture. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB99843 Warhol

It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic
DB108717 14 hours 13 minutes
by Jack Lowery
read by Vikas Adam
"The story of art collective Gran Fury--which fought back during the AIDS crisis through direct action and community-made propaganda--offers lessons in love and grief. In the late 1980s, the AIDS pandemic was annihilating queer people, intravenous drug users, and communities of color in America, and disinformation about the disease ran rampant. Out of the activist group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), an art collective that called itself Gran Fury formed to campaign against corporate greed, government inaction, stigma, and public indifference to the epidemic. Writer Jack Lowery examines Gran Fury's art and activism from iconic images like the "Kissing Doesn't Kill" poster to the act of dropping piles of fake bills onto the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Lowery offers a complex, moving portrait of a collective and its members, who built essential solidarities with each other and whose lives evidenced the profound trauma of enduring the AIDS crisis. Gran Fury and ACT UP's strategies are still used frequently by the activists leading contemporary movements. In an era when structural violence and the devastation of COVID-19 continue to target the most vulnerable, this belief in the power of public art and action persists." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB108717 It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic

True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee
DB102756 14 hours 4 minutes
by Abraham Riesman
read by Vikas Adam
A journalist chronicles the life of Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee (1922-2018), who is credited with creating characters core to the comics canon, such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers. While honoring his creative achievements, it also dispels some of the myths surrounding Lee. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB102756 True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee

Astronomy

Missions to Mars: A New Era of Rover and Spacecraft Discovery on the Red Planet DB108943 12 hours 8 minutes
by Larry S. Crumpler
read by Stephen Graybill
"From a long-term planning lead for the Mars Exploration Rover Project comes this vivid insider account of some of NASA's most vital and exciting missions to the Red Planet--a wondrous chronicle of unprecedented scientific discovery and the search for evidence of life on Mars. "There are probably just a few moments in human history when a small group of humans stood on the margins of a vast new world, and it is no stretch of the romantic imagination that the arrival of two rovers on the surface of another planet was surely one of them." Human exploration of Mars is the most ambitious and exciting scientific goal of the twenty-first century. Few people know as much about this fascinating planet as Dr. Larry Crumpler. As one of the long-term planning leads for the Mars Exploration Rover Project, he helped control the daily communications between NASA and the rovers roaming the planet to gather scientific data. Thanks to the Rover Project, we now know that the dry, red dust of the planet's surface hides a wet, possibly living history, and that conditions were present for the evolution of complex, organic life. In this magnificent compendium, Dr. Crumpler recounts the history of the Red Planet, from the earliest days when ancient astronomers turned their eyes to the heavens to the breakthrough discoveries being unearthed by modern technology today, including some of the first images from the latest rover, Perseverance. This magnificent "biography" of the red planet allows us to understand and experience it as never before. When the Spirit and Opportunity Rovers landed on Mars in January 2004, scientists expected them to function for 90 days. But those three months turned into fifteen years. With data gathered by the rovers, Dr. Crumpler and his fellow team members were able to reconstruct the planet's stunning geological past, when it was once inundated with water, and perhaps could have supported microbial life. Dr. Crumpler also reveals the joys and demands of life as a scientist taking part in these historic missions. Exploring fundamental questions about this remarkable planet that have intrigued us earthlings for years, Untitled illuminates Mars' significance in the solar system--and the human imagination." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
DB108943 Missions to Mars: A New Era of Rover and Spacecraft Discovery on the Red Planet

Biography

Illegally Yours: A Memoir
DB109679 7 hours 43 minutes
by Rafael Agustin
read by Rafael Agustin
"Growing up, Rafa's parents didn't want him to feel different because, as his mom told him: "Dreams should not have borders." But when he tried to get his driver's license during his junior year of high school, his parents were forced to reveal his immigration status. Suddenly, the kid who modeled his entire high school career after American TV shows had no idea what to do--there was no episode of Saved by the Bell where Zack gets deported! While his parents were relieved to no longer live a lie in front of their son, Rafa found himself completely unraveling in the face of his uncertain future. Illegally Yours is a heartwarming, comical look at how this struggling Ecuadorian immigrant family bonded together to navigate Rafa's school life, his parents' work lives, and their shared secret life as undocumented Americans, determined to make the best of their always turbulent and sometimes dangerous American existence. From using the Ricky Martin/Jennifer Lopez "Latin Explosion" to his social advantage in the '90s to how his parents--doctors in their home country of Ecuador--were reduced to working menial jobs in the US, the family's secret became their struggle, and their struggle became their hustle. An alternatingly hilarious and touching exploration of belonging and identity, Illegally Yours revolves around one very simple question: What does it mean to be American?" -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109679 Illegally Yours: A Memoir

Concealed: Memoir of a Jewish-Iranian Daughter Caught between the Chador and America
DB109044 10 hours 52 minutes
by Esther Amini
read by Catherine Byers
"Esther Amini grew up in Queens, New York, during the free-wheeling 1960s. She also grew up in a Persian-Jewish household, the American-born daughter of parents who had fled Mashhad, Iran. In Concealed she tells the story of being caught between these two worlds: the dutiful daughter of tradition-bound parents who hungers for more self-determination than tradition allows. Exploring the roots of her father's deep silences and explosive temper, her mother's flamboyance and flights from home, and her own sense of indebtedness to her two Iranian-born brothers, Amini uncovers the story of her parents' early years in Mashhad, Iran's holiest Muslim city; the little known history and persecution of Mashhad's underground Jews; the incident that steeled her mother's resolve to leave; and her parents' arduous journey to the United States, where they found themselves facing a new threat to their traditions: the threat of freedom. Determined to protect his only daughter from corruption, Amini's father prohibits talk, books, higher education, and tries to push her into an early Persian marriage. Can she resist? Should she? Focused intently on what she stands to gain, Amini eventually comes to see what she also stands to lose: a family and community bound together by food, celebrations, sibling escapades, and unexpected acts of devotion by parents to whom she feels invisible. In this poignant, funny, entertaining and uplifting memoir, Amini documents with keen eye, quick wit, and warm heart, how family members build, buoy, wound, and save one another across generations; how lives are shaped by the demands and burdens of loyalty and legacy; and how she rose to the challenge of deciding what to keep and what to discard." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. 2021.
DB109044 Concealed: Memoir of a Jewish-Iranian Daughter Caught between the Chador and America

Fifty Sounds: A Memoir of Language, Learning, and Longing
DB108587 12 hours 27 minutes
by Polly Barton
read by Mary March
"The language learning I want to talk about is sensory bombardment. It is a possession, a bedevilment, a physical takeover," writes Polly Barton in her eloquent treatise on this profoundly humbling and gratifying act. Shortly before graduating with a degree in philosophy from the University of Cambridge, Barton on a whim accepted an English-teaching position in Japan. With the characteristic ambivalence of a twenty-one-year-old whose summer--and life--stretched out almost infinitely before her, she moved to a remote island in the Sea of Japan, unaware that this journey would come to define not only her career but her very understanding of her own identity. Divided into fifty onomatopoeic Japanese phrases, Fifty Sounds recounts Barton's path to becoming a literary translator fluent in an incredibly difficult vernacular. From "min-min," the sound of air screaming, to "jin-jin," the sound of being touched for the first time, Barton analyzes these and countless other foreign sounds and phrases as a means of reflecting on various cultural attitudes, including the nuances of conformity and the challenges of being an outsider in what many consider a hermetically sealed society. In a tour-de-force of lyrical, playful prose, Barton recalls the stifling humidity that first greeted her on the island along with the incessant hum of peculiar new noises. As Barton taught English to inquisitive middle school children, she studied the basics of Japanese in an inverse way, beginning with simple nouns and phrases, such as "cat," "dog," and "Hello, my name is." But when it came to surrounding herself in the culture, simply mastering the basics wasn't enough. Japanese, Barton learned, has three scripts: the phonetic katakana and hiragana (collectively known as kana) and kanji (characters of Chinese origin). Despite her months-long immersion in the language, a word would occasionally produce a sinking feeling and send her sifting through her dictionaries to find the exact meaning. But this is precisely how Barton has come to define language learning: "It is the always-bruised but ever-renewing desire to draw close: to a person, a territory, a culture, an idea, an indefinable feeling." Engaging and penetrating, Fifty Sounds chronicles everything from Barton's most hilarious misinterpretations to her new friends and lovers in Tokyo--and even the influence of Ludwig Wittgenstein's transformative philosophy. A classic in the making in the tradition of Anne Carson and Rachel Cusk, Fifty Sounds is a celebration of the empowering act of learning to communicate in any new language." -- Provided by publisher. 2022.
DB108587 Fifty Sounds: A Memoir of Language, Learning, and Longing

A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense during Extraordinary Times
DB109683 20 hours 59 minutes
by Mark T. Esper
read by Joe Knezevich
"From June of 2019 until his firing by President Trump after the November 2020 election, Secretary Mark T. Esper led the Department of Defense through an unprecedented time in history--a period marked by growing threats and conflict abroad, a global pandemic unseen in a century, the greatest domestic unrest in two generations, and a White House seemingly bent on breaking accepted norms and conventions for political advantage. A Sacred Oath is Secretary Esper's unvarnished and candid memoir of those extraordinary and dangerous times, and includes events and moments never before told." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109683 A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense during Extraordinary Times

Patriarchy Blues: Reflections on Manhood
DB108723 6 hours 20 minutes
by Frederick Joseph
read by Novell Jordan
"In this personal and poignant collection, the author of the New York Times bestseller The Black Friend examines the culture of masculinity through the lens of a Black man. What does it mean to be a man today? How does the pervasive yet elusive idea of "toxic masculinity" actually reflect men's experiences--particularly those of color--and how they navigate the world? In this thought-provoking collection of essays, poems, and short reflections, Frederick Joseph contemplates these questions and more as he explores issues of masculinity and patriarchy from both a personal and cultural standpoint. From fatherhood, and "manning up" to abuse and therapy, he fearlessly and thoughtfully tackles the complex realities of men's lives today and their significance for society, lending his insights as a Black man. Written in Joseph's unique voice, with an intelligence and raw honesty that demonstrates both his vulnerability and compassion, Patriarchy Blues forces us to consider the joys, pains, and destructive nature of manhood and the stereotypes it engenders." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2022.
DB108723 Patriarchy Blues: Reflections on Manhood

Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas
DB108728 8 hours 51 minutes
by Roberto Lovato
read by Roberto Lovato
"An urgent, no-holds-barred tale of gang life, guerrilla warfare, intergenerational trauma, and interconnected violence between the United States and El Salvador, Roberto Lovato's memoir excavates family history and reveals the intimate stories beneath headlines about gang violence and mass Central American migration, one of the most important, yet least-understood humanitarian crises of our time--and one in which the perspectives of Central Americans in the United States have been silenced and forgotten. The child of Salvadoran immigrants, Roberto Lovato grew up in 1970s and 80s San Francisco as MS-13 and other notorious Salvadoran gangs were forming in California. In his teens, he lost friends to the escalating violence, and survived acts of brutality himself. He eventually traded the violence of the streets for human rights advocacy in wartime El Salvador where he joined the guerilla movement against the U.S.-backed, fascist military government responsible for some of the most barbaric massacres and crimes against humanity in recent history. Roberto returned from war-torn El Salvador to find the United States on the verge of unprecedented crises of its own. There, he channeled his own pain into activism and journalism, focusing his attention on how trauma affects individual lives and societies, and began the difficult journey of confronting the roots of his own trauma. As a child, Roberto endured a tumultuous relationship with his father Ram¢n. Raised in extreme poverty in the countryside of El Salvador during one of the most violent periods of its history, Ram¢n learned to survive by straddling intersecting underworlds of family secrets, traumatic silences, and dealing in black-market goods and guns. The repression of the violence in his life took its toll, however. Ram¢n was plagued with silences and fits of anger that had a profound impact on his youngest son, and which Roberto attributes as a source of constant reckoning with the violence and rebellion in his own life. In Unforgetting, Roberto interweaves his father's complicated history and his own with first-hand reportage on gang life, state violence, and the heart of the immigration crisis in both El Salvador and the United States. In doing so he makes the political personal, revealing the cyclical ways violence operates in our homes and our societies, as well as the ways hope and tenderness can rise up out of the darkness if we are courageous enough to unforget." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB108728 Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas

Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor's Life
DB109092 2 hours 19 minutes
by Marilyn Nelson
read by Grace Angela Henry
"A powerful biography in poems about Augusta Savage, the trailblazing artist and pillar of the Harlem Renaissance--with an afterword by the curator of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2022.
DB109092 Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor's Life

Thin Places: A Natural History of Healing and Home
DB108589 8 hours 40 minutes
by Kerri ní Dochartaigh
read by Gabriella Cavallero
"Both a celebration of the natural world and a memoir of one family's experience during the Troubles, Thin Places is a gorgeous braid of "two strands, one wondrous and elemental, the other violent and unsettling, sustained by vividly descriptive prose" (The Guardian). Kerri ní Dochartaigh was born in Derry, on the border of the North and South of Ireland, at the very height of the Troubles. She was brought up on a council estate on the wrong side of town--although for her family, and many others, there was no right side. One parent was Catholic, the other was Protestant. In the space of one year, they were forced out of two homes. When she was eleven, a homemade bomb was thrown through her bedroom window. Terror was in the very fabric of the city, and for families like ní Dochartaigh's, the ones who fell between the cracks of identity, it seemed there was no escape. In "Thin Places", a luminous blend of memoir, history, and nature writing, ní Dochartaigh explores how nature kept her sane and helped her heal, how violence and poverty are never more than a stone's throw from beauty and hope, and how we are, once again, allowing our borders to become hard and terror to creep back in. Ní Dochartaigh asks us to reclaim our landscape through language and study, and remember that the land we fight over is much more than lines on a map. It will always be ours, but--at the same time--it never really was." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB108589 Thin Places: A Natural History of Healing and Home

Kin: A Memoir
DB108718 13 hours 58 minutes
by Shawna Kay Rodenberg
read by Natalie Duke
"A heart stopping memoir of a wrenching Appalachian girlhood and a multilayered portrait of a misrepresented people, from Rona Jaffe Writer's Award winner Shawna Kay Rodenberg. When Shawna Kay Rodenberg was four, her father, fresh from a ruinous tour in Vietnam, spirited her family from their home in the hills of Eastern Kentucky to Minnesota, renouncing all of their earthly possessions to live in the Body, an off-the-grid End Times religious community. Her father was seeking a better, safer life for his family, but the austere communal living of prayer, bible study and strict regimentation was a bad fit for the precocious Shawna. Disciplined harshly for her many infractions, she was sexually abused by a predatory adult member of the community. Soon after the leader of the Body died and revelations of the sexual abuse came to light, her family returned to the same Kentucky mountains that their ancestors have called home for three hundred years. It is a community ravaged by the coal industry, but for all that, rich in humanity, beauty, and the complex knots of family love. Curious, resourceful, rebellious, Shawna ultimately leaves her mountain home but only as she masters a perilous balancing act between who she has been and who she will become. Kin is a mesmerizing memoir of survival that seeks to understand and make peace with the people and places that were survived. It is above all about family--about the forgiveness and love within its bounds--and generations of Appalachians who have endured, harmed, and held each other through countless lifetimes of personal and regional tragedy." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
DB108718 Kin: A Memoir

Wired Differently: 30 Neurodivergent People You Should Know
DB108988 5 hours 52 minutes
by Joe Wells
read by Kathryn Markey
"This collection of illustrated portraits celebrates the lives of influential neurodivergent figures who have achieved amazing things in recent times. Showcasing these 30 incredible people, the extraordinary stories in this book show that the things they've achieved, created and inspired they did not despite being different but because they are different. From politicians, activists and journalists to YouTubers, DJs and poets, this book highlights a wide range of exciting career paths for neurodivergent readers." -- Provided by publisher. For junior and senior high readers. 2022.
DB108988 Wired Differently: 30 Neurodivergent People You Should Know

The Man Who Understood Democracy: The Life of Alexis de Tocqueville
DB109050 19 hours 55 minutes
by Olivier Zunz
read by J.P. Linton
"A definitive biography of the French aristocrat who became one of democracy's greatest champions. In 1831, at the age of twenty-five, Alexis de Tocqueville made his fateful journey to America, where he observed the thrilling reality of a functioning democracy. From that moment onward, the French aristocrat would dedicate his life as a writer and politician to ending despotism in his country and bringing it into a new age. In this authoritative and groundbreaking biography, leading Tocqueville expert Olivier Zunz tells the story of a radical thinker who, uniquely charged by the events of his time, both in America and France, used the world as a laboratory for his political ideas. Placing Tocqueville's dedication to achieving a new kind of democracy at the center of his life and work, Zunz traces Tocqueville's evolution into a passionate student and practitioner of liberal politics across a trove of correspondence with intellectuals, politicians, constituents, family members, and friends. While taking seriously Tocqueville's attempts to apply the lessons of Democracy in America to French politics, Zunz shows that the United States, and not only France, remained central to Tocqueville's thought and actions throughout his life. In his final years, with France gripped by an authoritarian regime and America divided by slavery, Tocqueville feared that the democratic experiment might be failing. Yet his passion for democracy never weakened. Giving equal attention to the French and American sources of Tocqueville's unique blend of political philosophy and political action, The Man Who Understood Democracy offers the richest, most nuanced portrait yet of a man who, born between the worlds of aristocracy and democracy, fought tirelessly for the only system that he believed could provide both liberty and equality." -- Provided by publisher. 2022.
DB109050 The Man Who Understood Democracy: The Life of Alexis de Tocqueville

Blindness and Disabilities

Caution, Blind Priest Driving: The Story of Fr. Thomas J. Carroll, Changing the Public's Perception of Blindness
DB107915 18 hours 12 minutes
by Rachel Ethier Rosenbaum
read by Bill Wallace
Reverend Thomas J. Carroll, a priest of the archdiocese of Boston who after serving as auxiliary chaplain to the blinded veterans of WWII returned to Boston to transform the Catholic Guild for the Blind (renamed the Carroll Center for the Blind) from a social welfare agency to one providing training for newly blinded adults to restore their independence and return to sighted society. Some strong language. 2021.
DB107915 Caution, Blind Priest Driving: The Story of Fr. Thomas J. Carroll, Changing the Public's Perception of Blindness

Business and Economics

The Truth about Crypto: Your Investing Guide to Understanding Blockchain, Bitcoin, and Other Digital Assets
DB108836 8 hours 7 minutes
by Ric Edelman
read by Michael David Axtell
"Blockchain and bitcoin are here to stay--and as the Bank of England stated, this new technology could "transform the global financial system." No wonder PWC says blockchain technology will add $2 trillion to the world's $80 trillion economy by 2030. Indeed, blockchain technology and the digital assets it makes possible are revolutionary, the most profound innovation for commerce since the invention of the internet. And yet, the average investor--and the investment advisors who manage two-thirds of all their money--aren't aware of all this, or of the incredible investment opportunities now available. Fortunately, Ric Edelman, one of the most influential experts in the financial field, shows investors how they can engage and thrive in today's new investment marketplace. Featuring the prophetic insights you'd expect from one of the most acclaimed financial advisors, The Truth About Crypto is fun to read and easy to understand--and most importantly gives readers the sound, practical advice we all need to succeed with this new asset class. Best of all, Edelman shows how blockchain works, the difference between digital currency and digital assets, and a comprehensive look at every aspect of the field. This book is a must-read guide if you want to achieve investment success today." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB108836 The Truth about Crypto: Your Investing Guide to Understanding Blockchain, Bitcoin, and Other Digital Assets

After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul
DB108934 14 hours 47 minutes
by Tripp Mickle
read by Will Damron
"Steve Jobs called Jony Ive his "spiritual partner at Apple." The London-born genius was the second-most powerful person at Apple and the creative force who most embodies Jobs's spirit, the man who designed the products adopted by hundreds of millions the world over: the iPod, iPad, MacBook Air, the iMac G3, and the iPhone. In the wake of his close collaborator's death, the chief designer wrestled with grief and initially threw himself into his work designing the new Apple headquarters and the Watch before losing his motivation in a company increasingly devoted more to margins than to inspiration. In many ways, Cook was Ive's opposite. The product of a small Alabama town, he had risen through the ranks from the supply side of the company. His gift was not the creation of new products. Instead, he had invented countless ways to maximize a margin, squeezing some suppliers, persuading others to build factories the size of cities to churn out more units. He considered inventory evil. He knew how to make subordinates sweat with withering questions. Jobs selected Cook as his successor, and Cook oversaw a period of tremendous revenue growth that has lifted Apple's valuation to $2 trillion. He built a commanding business in China and rapidly distinguished himself as a master politician who could forge global alliances and send the world's stock market into freefall with a single sentence. Author Tripp Mickle spoke with more than 200 current and former Apple executives, as well as figures key to this period of Apple's history, including Trump administration officials and fashion luminaries such as Anna Wintour while writing After Steve. His research shows the company's success came at a cost. Apple lost its innovative spirit and has not designed a new category of device in years. Ive's departure in 2019 marked a culmination in Apple's shift from a company of innovation to one of operational excellence, and the price is a company that has lost its soul." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB108934 After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul

Cooking

Good Eats 4: The Final Years
DB108359 16 hours 54 minutes
by Alton Brown
read by Shawn Hertel
"This long-anticipated fourth and final volume in the bestselling Good Eats series of cookbooks draws on two reboots of the beloved television show by the inimitable Alton Brown--Good Eats Reloaded and Good Eats: The Return. With more than 150 new and improved recipes for everything from chicken parm to bibimbap and cold brew to corn dogs, accompanied by mouthwatering original photography, The Final Years is the most sumptuous and satisfying of the Good Eats books yet. Brown's surefire recipes are temptation enough: the headnotes, tips, and sidebars that support them make each recipe a journey into culinary technique, flavor exploration, and edible history. Striking photography showcases finished dishes and highlights key ingredients, and handwritten notes on the pages capture Brown's unique mix of madcap and methodical. The distinctive high-energy and information-intensive dynamic of Good Eats comes to life on every page, making this a must-have cookbook for die-hard fans and newcomers alike." -- Amazon. 2022.
DB108359 Good Eats 4: The Final Years

Geek Sweets: An Adventurer's Guide to Baking Wizardry; 60+ Recipes to Level Up Your Baking Game!
DB109514 5 hours 21 minutes
by Jenny Burgesse
read by Abigail Maupin
"The ultimate guide to creating 60 confections for the legions of geek fans out there--from Star Wars to Game of Thrones to Harry Potter and much more! Easy baking recipes: Geek Sweets is organized so even a beginning baker can have success. It's a baking cookbook full of beautiful photographs, with easy baking recipes for the 'truly geeky'. Geek Sweets is filled with cupcakes recipes, easy cookie recipes, and that special cake pops recipe. Theme party ideas: Geek Sweets delivers step-by-step how-to's for every adventurer-from the squire just starting a journey, to a well-worn dragon slayer looking for a challenge. Geek Sweets also includes theme party ideas with cocktail recipes and a companion website with printables to enhance all of your geeky gatherings, including your Game of Thrones viewing parties, as well as theme party ideas with fantasy-adventure themes." -- Provided by publisher. 2017.
DB109514 Geek Sweets: An Adventurer's Guide to Baking Wizardry; 60+ Recipes to Level Up Your Baking Game!

Mooncakes and Milk Bread: Sweet and Savory Recipes Inspired by Chinese Bakeries
DB108748 9 hours 40 minutes
by Kristina Cho
read by Halley Kim
"In Mooncakes & Milk Bread, food blogger Kristina Cho (eatchofood.com) introduces readers to Chinese bakery cooking with fresh, uncomplicated interpretations of classic recipes for the modern baker. Inside, you'll find sweet and savory baked buns, steamed buns, Chinese breads, unique cookies, whimsical cakes, juicy dumplings, Chinese breakfast dishes, and drinks. Recipes for steamed BBQ pork buns, pineapple buns with a thick slice of butter, silky smooth milk tea, and chocolate Swiss rolls all make an appearance--because a book about Chinese bakeries wouldn't be complete without them! Kristina teaches you to whip up these delicacies like a pro, including how to: Knead dough without a stand mixer; Avoid collapsed steamed buns; Infuse creams and custards with aromatic tea flavors; Mix the most workable dumpling dough; Pleat dumplings like an Asian grandma. This is the first book to exclusively focus on Chinese bakeries and cafés, but it isn't just for those nostalgic for Chinese bakeshop foods--it's for all home bakers who want exciting new recipes to add to their repertoires." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB108748 Mooncakes and Milk Bread: Sweet and Savory Recipes Inspired by Chinese Bakeries

New World Sourdough: Artisan Techniques for Creative Homemade Fermented Breads with Recipes for Birote, Bagels, Pan de Coco, Beignets, and More
DB108499 3 hours 27 minutes
by Bryan Ford
read by Steven Carpenter
"Best-selling cookbook New World Sourdough offers an inviting, nontraditional approach to baking delicious, inventive sourdough breads at home. Learn how to make a sourdough starter, basic breads, as well as other innovative baked goods from start to finish with Bryan Ford, Instagram star (@artisanbryan) and host of The Artisan's Kitchen on Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network. With less emphasis on perfecting crumb structure or obsessive temperature monitoring, Bryan focuses on the tips and techniques he's developed in his own practice, inspired by his Honduran roots and New Orleans upbringing, to ensure your success and a good return on your time and effort. Bryan's recipes include step-by-step instructions and photographs of all of the mixing, shaping, and baking techniques you'll need to know, with special attention paid to developing flavor as well as your own instincts. New World Sourdough offers practical, accessible techniques and enticing, creative recipes you'll want to return to again and again, like: Pan de Coco, Ciabatta, Pretzel Buns, Challah, Focaccia, Pizza dough, Cuban Muffins, Pita Bread, Flour Tortillas, and Queen Cake. Straightforward and unintimidating, New World Sourdough will get you started with your starter and then inspire you to keep experimenting and expanding your repertoire." -- Provided by publisher. 2020.
DB108499 New World Sourdough: Artisan Techniques for Creative Homemade Fermented Breads with Recipes for Birote, Bagels, Pan de Coco, Beignets, and More

Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple: A New Way to Bake Gluten-Free
DB108501 7 hours 9 minutes
by Aran Goyoaga
read by Carolyn Kashner
"Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple is all about easy-to-follow, gluten-free recipes for enticing breads, cakes, pies, tarts, biscuits, cookies, and includes a special holiday baking chapter. Aran also shares her gluten-free all-purpose baking mix so you can whip up a batch to keep in your pantry. An added bonus is that each recipe offers dairy-free substitutions and some are naturally vegan as well. With inventive, well-tested, recipes and Aran's clear guidance (plus 145 of her stunning photos), gluten-free baking is happily unfussy, producing irresistibly good results every time. Recipes include: One-Bowl Apple, Yogurt, and Maple Cake, Double Melting Chocolate Cookies, Honeyed Apple Pie, Buttery Shortbread, Lemon Meringue Tartlets, Baguettes, Brioche, and Boules, Crispy Potato, Leek, and Kale Focaccia Pie, Pumpkin and Pine Nut Tart, and so many more tempting recipes." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB108501 Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple: A New Way to Bake Gluten-Free

Cannelle et Vanille: Nourishing, Gluten-Free Recipes for Every Meal and Mood
DB108335 8 hours 46 minutes
by Aran Goyoaga
read by Madelyn Buzzard
"From the creator of the Bon Appétit-lauded food blog and CannelleVanille Instagram comes 100 recipes that show us how to bring more joy, mindfulness, and connection to the kitchen through family-friendly meals. The recipes in this critically acclaimed cookbook are organized around the day: start off with Spicy Carrot, Grapefruit, and Sunflower juice Soft-cooked Eggs with Dukkah and Bitter Greens; and move on to Tomato, Corn, and Bread Salad at midday. There is a chapter of everyday dinners you can prepare on a weeknight, such as a simple spaghetti and meatballs supper or Braised Chicken with Apples and Cider. You'll also find a chapter of menus to inspire you when you want to gather together a larger group of friends and family which Aran heartily encourages! She is especially known for her tender, gluten-free baking, and the book includes recipes for her sourdough bread, caramelized onion and fennel biscuits, and apple tarte tatin (flour substitutions are included for those who aren't gluten-free)." -- Amazon. 2019.
DB108335 Cannelle et Vanille: Nourishing, Gluten-Free Recipes for Every Meal and Mood

Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple
DB108996 16 hours 30 minutes
by Dorie Greenspan
read by Kathryn Markey
"Say "Dorie Greenspan" and think baking. The renowned author of thirteen cookbooks and winner of five James Beard and two IACP awards offers a collection that celebrates the sweet, the savory, and the simple. Every recipe is signature Dorie: easy--beginners can ace every technique in this book--and accessible, made with everyday ingredients. Are there surprises? Of course! You'll find ingenious twists like Berry Biscuits. Footlong cheese sticks made with cream puff dough. Apple pie with browned butter spiced like warm mulled cider. A s'mores ice cream cake with velvety chocolate sauce, salty peanuts, and toasted marshmallows. It's a book of simple yet sophisticated baking. The chapters are classic: Breakfast Stuff, Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Tarts, Cobblers and Crisps, Two Perfect Little Pastries, Salty Side Up. The recipes are unexpected. And there are "Sweethearts" throughout, mini collections of Dorie's all-time favorites. Don't miss the meringue Little Marvels or the Double-Decker Caramel Cake. Like all of Dorie's recipes, they lend themselves to being remade, refashioned, and riffed on." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB108996 Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple

Feast: Food of the Islamic World
DB108997 20 hours 39 minutes
by Anissa Helou
read by Catherine Byers
"In Feast, award-winning chef Anissa Helou--an authority on the cooking of North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East--shares her extraordinary range of beloved, time-tested recipes and stories from cuisines throughout the Muslim world. Helou has lived and traveled widely in this region, from Egypt to Syria, Iran to Indonesia, gathering some of its finest and most flavorful recipes for bread, rice, meats, fish, spices, and sweets. With sweeping knowledge and vision, Helou delves into the enormous variety of dishes associated with Arab, Persian, Mughal (or South Asian), and North African cooking, collecting favorites like biryani or Turkish kebabs along with lesser known specialties such as Zanzibari grilled fish in coconut sauce or Tunisian chickpea soup. Suffused with history, brought to life with stunning photographs, and inflected by Helou's humor, charm, and sophistication, Feast is an indispensable addition to the culinary canon featuring some of the world's most inventive cultures and peoples." -- Provided by publisher. 2018.
DB108997 Feast: Food of the Islamic World

Treasures of the Mexican Table: Classic Recipes, Local Secrets
DB108967 12 hours 49 minutes
by Pati Jinich
read by Carolyn Kashner
"Although many of us can rattle off our favorite authentic Mexican dishes, we might be hard pressed to name more than ten. Which is preposterous, given that Mexico has a rich culinary history stretching back thousands of years. For the last decade, Pati Jinich has sought out the culinary treasures of her home country, from birria, to salsa macha, to coyotas, to carne asada. Many of these dishes are local specialties, heirlooms passed down through generations, unknown outside of their original regions. Others have become national sensations. Each recipe is a classic. Each one comes with a story told in Pati's warm, relatable style. And each has been tested in Pati's American kitchen to ensure it is the best of its kind. Together, these essential recipes paint a vivid picture of the richness of Mexico." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB108967 Treasures of the Mexican Table: Classic Recipes, Local Secrets

My Korea: Traditional Flavors, Modern Recipes
DB108746 8 hours 49 minutes
by Hooni Kim and Aki Kamozawa
read by Mark Ashby
"Simple rice cakes drenched in a spicy sauce. Bulgogi sliders. A scallion pancake (pajeon) the New York Times calls "the essential taste of Korean cuisine." For years Hooni Kim's food has earned him raves, including a Michelin Star--the first ever awarded to a Korean restaurant--for Danji. His background in world-class French and Japanese kitchens seamlessly combines with his knowledge of the techniques of traditional Korean cuisine to create uniquely flavorful dishes. My Korea, his long-awaited debut cookbook, introduces home cooks to the Korean culinary trinity: doenjang, ganjang, and gochujang (fermented soybean paste, soy sauce, and fermented red chili paste). These key ingredients add a savory depth and flavor to the 90 recipes that follow, from banchan to robust stews. His kimchis call upon the best ingredients and balance a meal with a salty, sour, and spicy kick. Elevated classics include one-bowl meals like Dolsot Bibimbap (Sizzling-Hot Stone Bowl Bibimbap), Haemul Sundubu Jjigae (Spicy Soft Tofu Stew with Seafood), and Mul Naengmyeon (Buckwheat Noodles in Chilled Broth). Dishes meant for sharing pair well with soju or makgeolli, an unfiltered rice beer, and include Budae Jjigae (Spicy DMZ Stew) and Fried Chicken Wings. Complete with thoughtful notes on techniques and sourcing and gorgeous photography from across Korea, this cookbook will be an essential resource for home cooks, a celebration of the deliciousness of Korean food by a master chef." -- Provided by publisher. 2020.
DB108746 My Korea: Traditional Flavors, Modern Recipes

LaBelle Cuisine: Recipes to Sing About
DB108599 8 hours 0 minutes
by Patti LaBelle and Laura B. Randolph
read by Elizabeth Rose
"For Patti LaBelle, cooking isn't simply about food--it's about love. Raised in a family of fantastic Southern cooks, she has kept the lessons she learned in her beloved parents' and aunts' kitchens close to her heart but now, she is ready to share these delicious family heirlooms. Combining mouthwatering and accessible recipes with charming personal reminiscences of her remarkable life--from learning to cook by observing her parents to whipping up meals for her band after dazzling shows--LaBelle Cuisine will fill your heart as well as your stomach. With a colorful variety of dishes as appetizing as Say-My-Name Smothered Chicken, Wicked Peach Cobbler, Fierce Fried Corn, and more, this cookbook is something to sing about." -- Provided by publisher. 1999.
DB108599 LaBelle Cuisine: Recipes to Sing About

Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables
DB108500 12 hours 54 minutes
by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg
read by James Johnson
"Joshua McFadden, chef and owner of renowned trattoria Ava Gene's in Portland, Oregon, is a vegetable whisperer. After years racking up culinary cred at New York City restaurants like Lupa, Momofuku, and Blue Hill, he managed the trailblazing Four Season Farm in coastal Maine, where he developed an appreciation for every part of the plant and learned to coax the best from vegetables at each stage of their lives. In Six Seasons, his first book, McFadden channels both farmer and chef, highlighting the evolving attributes of vegetables throughout their growing seasons--an arc from spring to early summer to midsummer to the bursting harvest of late summer, then ebbing into autumn and, finally, the earthy, mellow sweetness of winter. Each chapter begins with recipes featuring raw vegetables at the start of their season. As weeks progress, McFadden turns up the heat--grilling and steaming, then moving on to sautés, pan roasts, braises, and stews. His ingenuity is on display in 225 revelatory recipes that celebrate flavor at its peak." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB108500 Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables

Root, Stem, Leaf, Flower: How to Cook with Vegetables and Other Plants
DB109065 6 hours 58 minutes
by Gill Meller
read by Alec Volz
"Making small changes to the way we cook and eat can both lessen the impact we have on the environment and dramatically improve our health and wellbeing: good for us and for future generations to come. Making plants and vegetables the focus of your meals can improve your cooking exponentially - they provide a feast of flavours, colours and textures. Root, Stem, Leaf, Flower is a true celebration of seasonal vegetables and fruit, packed with simple and surprisingly quick vegetarian recipes. With roots, we think of the crunch of carrots, celeriac, beetroot. From springtime stems like our beloved asparagus and rhubarb, through leaves of every hue (kale, radicchio, chard), when the blossoms become the fruits of autumn--apples, pears, plums--the food year is marked by growth, ripening and harvest. With 120 original recipes, every dish captured by acclaimed photographer Andrew Montgomery, and Gill's ideas for using the very best fresh ingredients, Root, Stem, Leaf, Flower is a thoughtful, inspiring collection of recipes that you'll want to come back to again and again." -- Provided by publisher. 2019.
DB109065 Root, Stem, Leaf, Flower: How to Cook with Vegetables and Other Plants

Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue
DB108776 15 hours 52 minutes
by Adrian Miller
read by Dwayne Glapion
"Across America, the pure love and popularity of barbecue cookery have gone through the roof. Prepared in one regional style or another, in the South and beyond, barbecue is one of the nation's most distinctive culinary arts. And people aren't just eating it; they're also reading books and articles and watching TV shows about it. But why is it, asks Adrian Miller--admitted 'cuehead and longtime certified barbecue judge--that in today's barbecue culture African Americans don't get much love? In Black Smoke, Miller chronicles how Black barbecuers, pitmasters, and restauranteurs helped develop this cornerstone of American foodways and how they are coming into their own today. It's a smoke-filled story of Black perseverance, culinary innovation, and entrepreneurship. Though often pushed to the margins, African Americans have enriched a barbecue culture that has come to be embraced by all. Miller celebrates and restores the faces and stories of the men and women who have influenced this American cuisine. This beautifully illustrated chronicle also features 22 barbecue recipes collected just for this book." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB108776 Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue

Veganomicon (10th Anniversary Edition): The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
DB109751 18 hours 36 minutes
by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero
read by Catherine Byers
"Who knew vegetables could taste so good? Vegan powerhouses Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Romero bring a brand new edition of this beloved vegan cookbook to celebrate its 10th anniversary. You'll find 25 new dishes and updates throughout for more than 250 recipes (everything from basics to desserts), stunning color photos, and tips for making your kitchen a vegan paradise. All the recipes in Veganomicon have been thoroughly kitchen-tested to ensure user-friendliness and amazing results. Veganomicon also includes meals for all occasions and soy-free, gluten-free, and low-fat options, plus quick recipes that make dinner a snap." -- Amazon. 2018.
DB109751 Veganomicon (10th Anniversary Edition): The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

That Sounds So Good: 100 Real-Life Recipes for Every Day of the Week
DB108766 9 hours 43 minutes
by Carla Lalli Music
read by Mary March
"Great food is an achievable part of every day, no matter how busy you are; the key is to have go-to recipes for every situation and for whatever you have on hand. The recipes in That Sounds So Good are split between weekday and weekend cooking. When time is short, turn to quick stovetop suppers, one-pot meals, and dinner salads. And for the weekend, lean into lazy lunches, simmered stews, and hands-off roasts. Carla's dishes are as inviting and get-your-attention-good as ever. All the recipes--such as Fat Noodles with Pan-Roasted Mushrooms and Crushed Herb Sauce or Chicken Legs with Warm Spices--come with multiple ingredient swaps and suggestions, so you can make each one your own. That Sounds So Good shows Carla at her effortless best, and shows how you can be, too." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB108766 That Sounds So Good: 100 Real-Life Recipes for Every Day of the Week

Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London's Ottolenghi
DB108970 6 hours 23 minutes
by Yotam Ottolenghi
read by Mark Ashby
"A vegetarian cookbook from the author of Jerusalem: A Cookbook and other Ottolenghi cookbooks: A must-have collection of 120 vegetarian recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi featuring exciting flavors and fresh combinations that will become mainstays for readers and eaters looking for a brilliant take on vegetables. Mastering the art of French cooking the Yotam Ottolenghi way: One of the most exciting talents in the cooking world, Yotam Ottolenghi's food inspiration comes from his Cordon Bleu training, Mediterranean background, and his unapologetic love of ingredients. "My approach can be the opposite to traditional French cooking, where everything is a little bit uniform and you work hard to process a sauce into the most fine and homogenous thing. I go the other way and use spices, herbs and other ingredients to create a sense of surprise." Not a vegetarian himself, his approach to vegetable dishes is wholly original and innovative, based on freshness and seasonality, and drawn from the diverse food cultures represented in London. The Plenty cookbook: Plenty is the cookbook that launched Yotam Ottolenghi from a fabulous chef, London restaurant owner, and British newspaper columnist to an international food celebrity. In the Plenty cookbook, Yotam puts a spotlight on vegetarian restaurant-caliber recipes that every home cook can make. A vibrant photo accompanies every recipe in this visually stunning Ottolenghi cookbook. Essential for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike!" -- Provided by publisher. 2011.
DB108970 Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London's Ottolenghi

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
DB108757 10 hours 5 minutes
by Deborah Perelman
read by Jessica Wortham
"Deb Perelman loves to cook. She isn't a chef or a restaurant owner--she's never even waitressed. Cooking in her tiny Manhattan kitchen was, at least at first, for special occasions--and, too often, an unnecessarily daunting venture. Deb found herself overwhelmed by the number of recipes available to her. Have you ever searched for the perfect birthday cake on Google? You'll get more than three million results. Where do you start? What if you pick a recipe that's downright bad? With the same warmth, candor, and can-do spirit her award-winning blog, Smitten Kitchen, is known for, here Deb presents more than 100 recipes--almost entirely new, plus a few favorites from the site--that guarantee delicious results every time. Gorgeously illustrated with hundreds of her beautiful color photographs, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook is all about approachable, uncompromised home cooking. Here you'll find better uses for your favorite vegetables: asparagus blanketing a pizza; ratatouille dressing up a sandwich; cauliflower masquerading as pesto. These are recipes you'll bookmark and use so often they become your own, recipes you'll slip to a friend who wants to impress her new in-laws, and recipes with simple ingredients that yield amazing results in a minimum amount of time. Deb tells you her favorite summer cocktail; how to lose your fear of cooking for a crowd; and the essential items you need for your own kitchen. From salads and slaws that make perfect side dishes (or a full meal) to savory tarts and galettes; from Mushroom Bourguignon to Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake, Deb knows just the thing for a Tuesday night, or your most special occasion." -- Provided by publisher. 2012.
DB108757 The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Lovecraft Cocktails: Elixirs & Libations from the Lore of H. P. Lovecraft
DB109216 2 hours 0 minutes
by Mike Slater
read by Shawn Hertel
"The author and the illustrator behind the best-selling Necronomnomnom have summoned another glorious grimoire--this time featuring cursed cocktails. These boozy and punny recipes pay homage to Lovecraftian horror themes and monsters with titles such as the King in Jell-O, Pink FlaMi-Go, and Sunken Island Iced Tea. Further libations include the Hell Residente, Moscow Ghoul, the Root Beer of All Evil, and the Bloodbath & Beyond. The book provides "Virgin Sacrifices" for the coachman designated to drive everyone back from the s‚ance, or for anyone not wanting to imbibe the devil's water. There are 75 delicious and malicious recipes, each gorgeously illustrated, mercilessly tested, and hilariously written. Recipes appear in the form of cryptic rhymes and arcane rituals but are always easy (and fun) to follow. Bibulous and ridiculous, Lovecraft Cocktails will bring delight and fright for Halloween, the holidays, and beyond." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. 2021.
DB109216 Lovecraft Cocktails: Elixirs & Libations from the Lore of H. P. Lovecraft

Flavors of the Sun: The Sahadi's Guide to Understanding, Buying, and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients
DB108968 8 hours 49 minutes
by Christine Sahadi Whelan
read by Eva Wilhelm
"Sumac. Urfa pepper. Halvah. Pomegranate molasses. Preserved lemons. The seasonings, staples, and spice blends used throughout the Middle East offer deliciously simple ways to transform food--once you know how to use them. In FLAVORS OF THE SUN, the people behind the iconic Brooklyn market Sahadi's showcase the versatility of these ingredients in over 120 everyday dishes, including starters, salads, soups, family-friendly meals, and desserts. With sections devoted to recipes boasting Bright, Savory, Spiced, Nutty, and Sweet accents, it offers inspiration, techniques, and intensely flavorful ways to use everything from Aleppo pepper to za'atar with confidence. Throughout, "no-recipe recipes" help build up your flavor intuition so you can effortlessly incorporate any of the featured spices, condiments, and preserves into your daily repertoire. 120 RECIPES WITH A PUNCH: From an updated take on nachos and mac and cheese to a spectacular pistachio cheesecake and tahini-enriched brownies, FLAVORS OF THE SUN features dozens of the store's most-requested dishes as well as Sahadi family favorites. Simple yet loaded with flavor, these recipes will inspire you to make these distinctive Middle Eastern ingredients essential components of your pantry. OPTIMUM VERSATILITY: Each section addresses a specific flavor profile and offers a set of essential ingredients for achieving it along with helpful tips on how to use them separately or in combination. Look-and-cook mini recipes provide even more ideas for using distinctive ingredients like tahini, Aleppo pepper, and preserved lemons to give a fresh new spin to everything from salad dressings to cocktails. EXPERT KNOWLEDGE: Family owned, Sahadi's has been a beloved resource since its founding by Abrahim Sahadi, an immigrant from Lebanon, more than 100 years ago. Now welcoming a fifth generation into the business, the Sahadi family's authentic imported goods and exhaustive knowledge continue to inspire local chefs and adventurous home cooks to taste and explore the diverse world of Middle Eastern spices and sundries. FOR FANS OF PLENTY: Much like PLENTY, this cookbook dives deep into core ingredients and provides intimate insights into flavorful spice blends like dukkah, berbere, ras el hanout, shawarma spices, and more. Each ingredient profile includes an informative buying guide so you can build your pantry like a pro. Perfect for: home cooks to seasoned chefs; fans of PLENTY; JERUSALEM; SHUK, and ZAHAV; Sahadi's loyal customers; those interested learning about spices and new ways to use them in everyday dishes." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB108968 Flavors of the Sun: The Sahadi's Guide to Understanding, Buying, and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients

Crime

Bound to Die: The True Story of Florida Serial Killer Bobby Joe Long
DB108325 6 hours 5 minutes
by Anna Flowers
read by Paige O'Malley
"Tortured and bound with ropes, these young victims did not stand a chance. Then one girl got away... "Bound to Die" is the true crime story of Florida serial killer Bobby Joe Long, who was convicted of the heinous murders of nine women in 1984 in Florida's Tampa Bay area. The first body of 19-year-old disco dancer Lana Long was found in a field on Mother's Day. Six months later, the bloody rampage ended when the ninth victim was discovered. All had been tortured with ropes and savagely beaten and raped. The killer's confession of his crimes is haunting. The vividly rendered results of his historical trials and appeals are equally shocking. This well written book is an accurate chronicling of an infamous part of Florida history, brought up to date in this Revised Edition. A best seller when first published by Kensington, NY, it was a national book club selection. Three recent television documentaries with the author's participation have been produced on this case and can be seen on Investigation Discovery and other television channels." -- Provded by publisher. Violence. 1995.
DB108325 Bound to Die: The True Story of Florida Serial Killer Bobby Joe Long

Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks
DB108725 15 hours 32 minutes
by Patrick Radden Keefe
read by Patrick Radden Keefe
"Patrick Radden Keefe has garnered prizes ranging from the National Magazine Award to the Orwell Prize to the National Book Critics Circle Award for his meticulously-reported, hypnotically-engaging work on the many ways people behave badly. Rogues brings together a dozen of his most celebrated articles from The New Yorker. As Keefe says in his preface "They reflect on some of my abiding preoccupations: crime and corruption, secrets and lies, the permeable membrane separating licit and illicit worlds, the bonds of family, the power of denial." Keefe brilliantly explores the intricacies of forging $150,000 vintage wines, examines whether a whistleblower who dared to expose money laundering at a Swiss bank is a hero or a fabulist, spends time in Vietnam with Anthony Bourdain, chronicles the quest to bring down a cheerful international black market arms merchant, and profiles a passionate death penalty attorney who represents the "worst of the worst," among other bravura works of literary journalism. The appearance of his byline in The New Yorker is always an event, and collected here for the first time readers can see his work forms an always enthralling but deeply human portrait of criminals and rascals, as well as those who stand up against them." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB108725 Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks

The Rabbi and the Hit Man: A True Tale of Murder, Passion, and Shattered Faith
DB108755 10 hours 50 minutes
by Arthur J. Magida
read by Ray Foushee
"A fascinating true-crime narrative about the first rabbi ever accused of murder and what the case says about the role of clergy in America. On the evening of November 1, 1994, Rabbi Fred Neulander returned home to find his wife, Carol, facedown on the living room floor, blood everywhere. He called for help, but it was too late. Two trials and eight years later, the founder of the largest reform synagogue in southern New Jersey became the first rabbi ever convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. In a gripping examination of the misuses of the pulpit and the self-delusions of power, Arthur J. Magida paints a devastating portrait of a manipulative man who used his position of trust in the temple to attract several mistresses -- and to befriend a lonely recovering alcoholic, whom he convinced to kill his wife "for the good of Israel." The Rabbi and the Hit Man straddles the juncture of faith and trust, and confronts issues of sex, narcissism, arrogance, and adultery. It is the definitive account of a charismatic clergyman who paid the ultimate price for ignoring his own words of wisdom: "We live at any moment with our total past ... What we do will stay with us forever."" -- Provided by publisher. Violence, strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2004.
DB108755 The Rabbi and the Hit Man: A True Tale of Murder, Passion, and Shattered Faith

Pure Land: A True Story of Three Lives, Three Cultures, and the Search for Heaven on Earth
DB108590 14 hours 33 minutes
by Annette McGivney
read by Gabriella Cavallero
"Tomomi Hanamure, a Japanese citizen who loved exploring the wilderness of the American West, was killed on her birthday May 8, 2006. She was stabbed 29 times as she hiked to Havasu Falls on the Havasupai Indian Reservation at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Her killer was a distressed Havasupai youth. Pure Land is the story of this tragedy. But it is also the story of how McGivney's quest to understand Hanamure's life and death wound up guiding the author through her own life-threatening crisis. On this journey stretching from the southern tip of Japan to the bottom of Grand Canyon, and into the ugliest aspects of human behavior, Pure Land offers proof of the healing power of nature and the resiliency of the human spirit." -- Provided by publisher. Some violence. 2004.
DB108590 Pure Land: A True Story of Three Lives, Three Cultures, and the Search for Heaven on Earth

Gardening

The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire, and the Birth of an Obsession
DB106168 12 hours 17 minutes
by Andrea Wulf
read by Kristin Allison
Design historian and author of Founding Gardeners (DB86718) looks at a group of influential eighteenth century gardeners. Follows the lives of botany enthusiasts Peter Collinson, John Bartram, Philip Miller, Carl Linnaeus, Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, whose shared passion for plants gave rise to the English love affair with gardens. 2009.
DB106168 The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire, and the Birth of an Obsession

Government and Politics

Silent Invasion: The Untold Story of the Trump Administration, Covid-19, and Preventing the Next Pandemic Before It's Too Late
DB108920 22 hours 10 minutes
by Deborah Birx
read by Kathe Mazur
"In late February 2020, Dr. Deborah Birx--a lifelong federal health official who had worked at the CDC, the State Department, and the US Army across multiple presidential administrations--was asked to join the Trump White House Coronavirus Task Force and assist the already faltering federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For weeks, she'd been raising the alarm behind the scenes about what she saw happening in public--from the apparent lack of urgency at the White House to the routine downplaying of the risks to Americans. Once in the White House, she was tasked with helping fix the broken federal approach and making President Trump see the danger this virus posed to all of us. Silent Invasion is the story of what she witnessed and lived for the next year--an eye-opening, inside account, detailed here for the first time, of the Trump Administration's response to the greatest public health crisis in modern times. Regarded with suspicion in the West Wing from day one, Dr. Birx goes beyond the media speculation and political maneuvering to show what she was really up against in the Trump White House. Digging into the hard-fought victories, the costly mistakes, and the human drama surrounding the administration's efforts, she examines the forces that crippled efforts to control the virus and explores why these blunders continue to haunt us today. And yet amid the agonizing missteps were bright spots that point the way forward--the fastest vaccine creation in history, governors that put their citizens' health first, and Tribal Nations that demonstrated the powerful role of community in curbing spread, despite their criminally underfunded healthcare systems. Collectively these successes reveal the valiant work of many who were committed to saving lives, as well as highlighting the dire need to reform our public health institutions, so they are nimble and resilient enough to confront the next pandemic. With the pandemic now moving into its third year confounding two presidential administrations, Dr. Birx presents a story at once urgent and frustratingly unfinished, as Covid-19 continues to put thousands of American lives at risk. The end result is the most comprehensive and extensive accounting to date of the Trump Administration's struggle to control the biggest health crisis in generations--a revelatory look at how we can learn from our mistakes and prevent this from happening again." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB108920 Silent Invasion: The Untold Story of the Trump Administration, Covid-19, and Preventing the Next Pandemic Before It's Too Late

Honor: A History
DB109193 18 hours 32 minutes
by James Bowman
read by J.P. Linton
"The importance of honor is present in the earliest records of civilization. Today, while it may still be an essential concept in Islamic cultures, in the West, honor has been disparaged and dismissed as obsolete. In this lively and authoritative book, James Bowman traces the curious and fascinating history of this ideal, from the Middle Ages through the Enlightenment and to the killing fields of World War I and the despair of Vietnam. Bowman reminds us that the fate of honor and the fate of morality and even manners are deeply interrelated. His book is an indispensable document in a time of growing concern about the erosion of values." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. 2007.
DB109193 Honor: A History

Here's the Deal: A Memoir
DB109655 20 hours 1 minutes
by Kellyanne Conway
read by Kellyanne Conway
"As a highly respected pollster for corporate and Republican clients and a frequent television talk show guest, Kellyanne Conway had already established herself as one of the brightest lights on the national political scene when Donald Trump asked her to run his presidential campaign. She agreed, delivering him to the White House, becoming the first woman in American history to manage a winning presidential campaign, and changing the American landscape forever. Who she is, how she did it, and who tried to stop her is a fascinating story of personal triumph and political intrigue that has never been told...until now. In Here's The Deal, Kellyanne takes you on a journey all the way to the White House and beyond with her trademark sharp wit, raw honesty, and level eye. It's all here: what it's like to be dissected on national television. How to outsmart the media mob. How to outclass the crazy critics. How to survive and succeed male-dominated industries. What happens when the perils of social media really hit home. And what happens when the divisions across the country start playing out in one's own family. In this open and vulnerable account, Kellyanne turns the camera on herself. What she has to share--about our politics, about the media, about her time in the White House, and about her personal journey--is an astonishing glimpse of visibility and vulnerability, of professional and personal highs and lows, and ultimately, of triumph." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109655 Here's the Deal: A Memoir

On Account of Race: The Supreme Court, White Supremacy, and the Ravaging of African American Voting Rights
DB109026 9 hours 37 minutes
by Lawrence Goldstone
read by Rhett Samuel Price
"One promise of democracy is the right of every citizen to vote. And yet, from our founding, strong political forces were determined to limit that right. The Supreme Court, Alexander Hamilton wrote, would protect the weak against this very sort of tyranny. Still, as On Account of Race forcefully demonstrates, through the better part of American history the Court has instead been a protector of white rule. And complex threats against the right to vote persist even today. Beginning in 1876, the Supreme Court systematically dismantled both the equal protection guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment and what seemed to be the right to vote in the Fifteenth. And so a half million African Americans across the South who had risked their lives and property to be allowed to cast ballots were stricken from voting rolls by white supremacists. This vacuum allowed for the rise of Jim Crow. None of this was done in the shadows--those determined to wrest the vote from black Americans could not have been more boastful in either intent or execution. On Account of Race tells the story of an American tragedy, the only occasion in United States history in which a group of citizens who had been granted the right to vote then had it stripped away. It is a warning that the right to vote is fragile and must be carefully guarded and actively preserved lest American democracy perish." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB109026 On Account of Race: The Supreme Court, White Supremacy, and the Ravaging of African American Voting Rights

The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure
DB109458 8 hours 32 minutes
by Yascha Mounk
read by JD Jackson
"Some democracies are highly homogeneous. Others have long maintained a brutal racial or religious hierarchy, with some groups dominating and exploiting others. Never in history has a democracy succeeded in being both diverse and equal, treating members of many different ethnic or religious groups fairly. And yet achieving that goal is now central to the democratic project in countries around the world. It is, Yascha Mounk argues, the greatest experiment of our time. Drawing on history, social psychology, and comparative politics, Mounk examines how diverse societies have long suffered from the ills of domination, fragmentation, or structured anarchy. So it is hardly surprising that most people are now deeply pessimistic that different groups might be able to integrate in harmony, celebrating their differences without essentializing them. But Mounk shows us that the past can offer crucial insights for how to do better in the future. There is real reason for hope. It is up to us and the institutions we build whether different groups will come to see each other as enemies or friends, as strangers or compatriots. To make diverse democracies endure, and even thrive, we need to create a world in which our ascriptive identities come to matter less--not because we ignore the injustices that still characterize the United States and so many other countries around the world, but because we have succeeded in addressing them. The Great Experiment is that rare book that offers both a profound understanding of an urgent problem and genuine hope for our human capacity to solve it. As Mounk contends, giving up on the prospects of building fair and thriving diverse democracies is simply not an option--and that is why we must strive to realize a more ambitious vision for the future of our societies." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109458 The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure

Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy
DB91912 8 hours 44 minutes
by Jeanine Pirro
read by Jeanine Pirro
A TV host and former prosecutor, judge, and elected official discusses her views on the Trump administration and those that oppose it. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
DB91912 Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy

Hobbies and Crafts

Pottery for Beginners: Projects for Beautiful Ceramic Bowls, Mugs, Vases and More
DB108965 6 hours 13 minutes
by Kara Leigh Ford
read by Eva Wilhelm
"If you ever daydream about delving into pottery but aren't sure where to begin, this is your book. Professional potter Kara Leigh Ford will be your personal pottery guide, helping you to overcome any doubts about your abilities. All you need are curiosity and a few simple tools to mold stunning stoneware with confidence. Inspiring projects and primers on equipment, technique, clay types and setting up a workspace make pottery approachable for complete newcomers, as well as budding potters who want to hone their skills. Plus, gorgeous photos from Kara's studio offer visual guidance every step of the way. Enter the wonderful world of ceramics with hand building, the meditative method behind your next mug, spoon set or soap dish. When you're ready for the wheel, easy-to-follow instructions cover the foundations of throwing bowls, plates, vases and other beginner-friendly kitchenware like a pro. Each stand-alone piece builds upon a skill introduced in the previous project: Craft all ten and you've learned pottery's fundamentals! Tutorials on glazing and decorative techniques will help you discover your own unique style and understand the basics of the firing process--whether in your own kiln or at a community studio--ensuring beautifully finished pieces. Kara's can-do approach brings handmade ceramic creations fully within reach. Whether you want to make charming home d‚cor or thoughtful gifts for loved ones, you'll find all you need to embark on your pottery journey." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB108965 Pottery for Beginners: Projects for Beautiful Ceramic Bowls, Mugs, Vases and More

Humor

Ali's Well That Ends Well: Tales of Desperation and a Little Inspiration
DB109302 4 hours 4 minutes
by Ali Wentworth
read by Ali Wentworth
"New York Times bestselling author Ali Wentworth offers a comedic look at family, friendship, and lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic in her new collection of laugh-out-loud comic vignettes. Like many, Ali Wentworth spent the pandemic seesawing between highs, lows, and baking an unnecessary amount of chocolate cake. Between binging every tv show in existence to conquering TikTok to becoming a (semi) empty-nester, Ali experienced her share of turmoil (including an early case of Covid), but she also grew a little, learned a lot, and found comfort in some unexpected people and places." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109302 Ali's Well That Ends Well: Tales of Desperation and a Little Inspiration

Literature

The Heirs of Anthony Boucher: A History of Mystery Fandom; Revised & Updated
DB108986 12 hours 0 minutes
by Marvin Lachman
read by James Konicek
"Following in the footsteps of those devoted to science fiction and works about Sherlock Holmes, general mystery fandom emerged in 1967 and has since thrived and become an international phenomenon. With its irresistible combination of puzzle-solving and the examination of the dark underbelly of humanity, crime fiction continues to fascinate and delight millions of readers. Ranging the gamut from cozy mysteries to fast-paced thrillers, crime fiction contains a nearly endless range of books... and, of course, a similarly diverse group of readers who devour them. Out of this rabid readership, countless websites, nearly one hundred fan magazines, and dozens of conferences celebrating mysteries have arisen to bring authors, readers, and fans together. This revised and updated edition of The Heirs of Anthony Boucher is an illuminating look at the history of mystery fandom and its effect on readers across the globe. Complete with anecdotes, personal reminiscences, facts, and pictures, it tells the story of the mystery community's publications and conventions, the fans who produce them, and the future of mystery fandom in years to come." -- Provided by publisher. 2005.
DB108986 The Heirs of Anthony Boucher: A History of Mystery Fandom; Revised & Updated

Mantel Pieces: Royal Bodies and Other Writing from the London Review of Books
DB108720 10 hours 40 minutes
by Hilary Mantel
read by Hilary Mantel
"A stunning collection of essays and memoir from twice Booker Prize winner and international bestseller Hilary Mantel, author of The Mirror and the Light In 1987, when Hilary Mantel was first published in the London Review of Books, she wrote to the editor, Karl Miller, 'I have no critical training whatsoever, so I am forced to be more brisk and breezy than scholarly.' This collection of twenty reviews, essays and pieces of memoir from the next three decades, tells the story of what happened next. Her subjects range far and wide: Robespierre and Danton, the Hite report, Saudi Arabia where she lived for four years in the 1980s, the Bulger case, John Osborne, the Virgin Mary as well as the pop icon Madonna, a brilliant examination of Helen Duncan, Britain's last witch. There are essays about Jane Boleyn, Charles Brandon, Christopher Marlowe and Margaret Pole, which display the astonishing insight into the Tudor mind we are familiar with from the bestselling Wolf Hall Trilogy. Her famous lecture, 'Royal Bodies', which caused a media frenzy, explores the place of royal women in society and our imagination. Here too are some of her LRB diaries, including her first meeting with her stepfather and a confrontation with a circus strongman. Constantly illuminating, always penetrating and often very funny, interleaved with letters and other ephemera gathered from the archive, Mantel Pieces is an irresistible selection from one of our greatest living writers." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB108720 Mantel Pieces: Royal Bodies and Other Writing from the London Review of Books

The Edge of Memory: Ancient Stories, Oral Tradition, and the Post-Glacial World
DB109062 11 hours 6 minutes
by Patrick Nunn
read by Kerry Dukin
"In today's society it is generally the written word that holds the authority. We are more likely to trust the words found in a history textbook over the version of history retold by a friend--after all, human memory is unreliable, and how can you be sure your friend hasn't embellished the facts? But before humans were writing down their knowledge, they were telling it to each other in the form of stories. The Edge of Memory celebrates the predecessor of written information--the spoken word, tales from our ancestors that have been passed down, transmitting knowledge from one generation to the next. Among the most extensive and best-analysed of these stories are from native Australian cultures. These stories conveyed both practical information and recorded history, describing a lost landscape, often featuring tales of flooding and submergence. These folk traditions are increasingly supported by hard science. Geologists are starting to corroborate the tales through study of climatic data, sediments and land forms; the evidence was there in the stories, but until recently, nobody was listening. In this book, Patrick Nunn unravels the importance of these tales, exploring the science behind folk history from various places--including northwest Europe and India--and what it can tell us about environmental phenomena, from coastal drowning to volcanic eruptions. These stories of real events were passed across the generations, and over thousands of years, and they have broad implications for our understanding of how human societies have developed through the millennia, and ultimately how we respond collectively to changes in climate, our surroundings and the environment we live in. -- Provided by publisher. 2018.
DB109062 The Edge of Memory: Ancient Stories, Oral Tradition, and the Post-Glacial World

Graceland, At Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South
DB109190 8 hours 6 minutes
by Margaret Renkl
read by Jill Fox
"For the past four years, Margaret Renkl's columns have offered readers of The New York Times a weekly dose of natural beauty, human decency, and persistent hope from her home in Nashville. Now more than sixty of those pieces have been brought together in this sparkling new collection. "People have often asked me how it feels to be the 'voice of the South,'" writes Renkl in her introduction. "But I'm not the voice of the South, and no one else is, either." There are many Souths--red and blue, rural and urban, mountain and coast, Black and white and brown--and no one writer could possibly represent all of them. In Graceland, At Last, Renkl writes instead from her own experience about the complexities of her homeland, demonstrating along the way how much more there is to this tangled region than many people understand. In a patchwork quilt of personal and reported essays, Renkl also highlights some other voices of the South, people who are fighting for a better future for the region. A group of teenagers who organized a youth march for Black Lives Matter. An urban shepherd whose sheep remove invasive vegetation. Church parishioners sheltering the homeless. Throughout, readers will find the generosity of spirit and deep attention to the world, human and nonhuman, that keep readers returning to her columns each Monday morning." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. 2021.
DB109190 Graceland, At Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South

Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck
DB108719 15 hours 46 minutes
by William Souder
read by David Colacci
"The first full-length biography of the Nobel laureate to appear in a quarter century, Mad at the World illuminates what has made the work of John Steinbeck an enduring part of the literary canon: his capacity for empathy. Angered by the plight of the Dust Bowl migrants who were starving even as they toiled to harvest California's limitless bounty and appalled by the country's refusal to recognize the humanity common to all of its citizens, Steinbeck took a stand against social injustice-paradoxically given his inherent misanthropy. A man by turns quick-tempered, compassionate, and ultimately brilliant, Steinbeck could be a difficult person to like. Obsessed with privacy, he was mistrustful of people. Next to writing, his favorite things were drinking and womanizing and getting married, which he did three times. And while he claimed indifference about success, his mid-career books and movie deals made him a lot of money. And yet Steinbeck also took aim at the corrosiveness of power, the perils of income inequality, and the urgency of ecological collapse. Steinbeck remains our great social realist novelist, the writer who gave the dispossessed and the disenfranchised a voice in American life and letters. Eloquent, nuanced, and deeply researched, Mad at the World captures the full measure of the man and his work." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
DB108719 Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck

Medicine and Health

The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I
DB108939 8 hours 18 minutes
by Lindsey Fitzharris
read by Daniel Gillies
"From the moment the first machine gun rang out over the Western Front, one thing was clear: mankind's military technology had wildly surpassed its medical capabilities. Bodies were battered, gouged, hacked, and gassed. The First World War claimed millions of lives and left millions more wounded and disfigured. In the midst of this brutality, however, there were also those who strove to alleviate suffering. The Facemaker tells the extraordinary story of such an individual: the pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies, who dedicated himself to reconstructing the burned and broken faces of the injured soldiers under his care. Gillies, a Cambridge-educated New Zealander, became interested in the nascent field of plastic surgery after encountering the human wreckage on the front. Returning to Britain, he established one of the world's first hospitals dedicated entirely to facial reconstruction. There, Gillies assembled a unique group of practitioners whose task was to rebuild what had been torn apart, to re-create what had been destroyed. At a time when losing a limb made a soldier a hero, but losing a face made him a monster to a society largely intolerant of disfigurement, Gillies restored not just the faces of the wounded but also their spirits. The Facemaker places Gillies's ingenious surgical innovations alongside the dramatic stories of soldiers whose lives were wrecked and repaired. The result is a vivid account of how medicine can be an art, and of what courage and imagination can accomplish in the presence of relentless horror." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB108939 The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I

Heads Up: Changing Minds on Mental Health
DB108602 4 hours 20 minutes
by Melanie Siebert
read by Lindsey Pierce
"Featuring real-life stories of people who have found hope and meaning in the midst of life's struggles, Heads Up: Changing Minds on Mental Health is the go-to guide for teenagers who want to know about mental health, mental illness, trauma and recovery. For too long, mental health problems have been kept in the shadows, leaving people to suffer in silence, or worse, to be feared, bullied or pushed to the margins of society where survival is difficult. This book shines a light on the troubled history of thinking about and treating mental illness and tells the stories of courageous pioneers in the field of psychiatry who fought for more compassionate, respectful and effective treatments. It provides a helpful guide to the major mental health diagnoses along with ideas and resources to support those who are suffering. But it also moves beyond a biomedical focus and considers the latest science that shows how trauma and social inequality impact mental health. The book explores how mental health is more than just "in our heads" and includes the voices of Indigenous people who share a more holistic way of thinking about wellness, balancing mind, body, heart and spirit. Highlighting innovative approaches such as trauma-informed activities like yoga and hip-hop, police mental health teams, and peer support for youth, Heads Up shares the stories of people who are sparking change." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language. For junior and senior high readers. 2020.
DB108602 Heads Up: Changing Minds on Mental Health

Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation
DB109112 10 hours 7 minutes
by Linda Villarosa
read by Karen Chilton
"In 2018, Linda Villarosa's New York Times Magazine article on maternal and infant mortality among black mothers and babies in America caused an awakening. Hundreds of studies had previously established a link between racial discrimination and the health of Black Americans, with little progress toward solutions. But Villarosa's article exposing that a Black woman with a college education is as likely to die or nearly die in childbirth as a white woman with an eighth grade education made racial disparities in health care impossible to ignore. Now, in Under the Skin, Linda Villarosa lays bare the forces in the American health-care system and in American society that cause Black people to "live sicker and die quicker" compared to their white counterparts. Today's medical texts and instruments still carry fallacious slavery-era assumptions that Black bodies are fundamentally different from white bodies. Study after study of medical settings show worse treatment and outcomes for Black patients. Black people live in dirtier, more polluted communities due to environmental racism and neglect from all levels of government. And, most powerfully, Villarosa describes the new understanding that coping with the daily scourge of racism ages Black people prematurely. Anchored by unforgettable human stories and offering incontrovertible proof, Under the Skin is dramatic, tragic, and necessary reading." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109112 Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation

Music

Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan
DB96346 11 hours 41 minutes
by Andy Aledort and Alan Paul
read by Denny Freeman
Biography of guitar legend who died in 1990 at the age of thirty-five. After battling addiction, Vaughan was sober and riding the high of a successful new album when he was killed in a helicopter crash after a performance. Includes interviews with friends, family, and fellow musicians. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.
DB96346 Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan

The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present
DB108502 14 hours 15 minutes
by Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon
read by Peter Holdway
"From his early Liverpool days, through the historic decade of The Beatles, to Wings and his long solo career, The Lyrics pairs the definitive texts of 154 Paul McCartney songs with first-person commentaries on his life and music. Spanning two alphabetically arranged volumes, these commentaries reveal how the songs came to be and the people who inspired them: his devoted parents, Mary and Jim; his songwriting partner, John Lennon; his "Golden Earth Girl," Linda Eastman; his wife, Nancy McCartney; and even Queen Elizabeth, among many others. Here are the origins of "Let It Be," "Lovely Rita," "Yesterday," and "Mull of Kintyre," as well as McCartney's literary influences, including Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, and Alan Durband, his high-school English teacher." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. 2021.
DB108502 The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present

Still So Excited!: My Life as a Pointer Sister
DB109385 9 hours 3 minutes
by Ruth Pointer and Marshall
read by Duyen Washington
"Still So Excited!: My Life as a Pointer Sister is an engaging, funny, heartbreaking, and poignant look at Ruth Pointer's roller-coaster life in and out of the Pointer Sisters. When overnight success came to the Pointer Sisters in 1973, they all thought it was the answer to their long-held prayers. While it may have served as an introduction to the good life, it also was an introduction to the high life of limos, champagne, white glove treatment, and mountains of cocaine that were the norm in the high-flying '70s and '80s. Pointer's devastating addictions took her to the brink of death in 1984. Pointer has bounced back to live a drug- and alcohol-free life for the past 30 years and she shares how in her first autobiography, detailing the Pointer Sisters' humble beginning, musical apprenticeship, stratospheric success, miraculous comeback, and the melodic sound that captured the hearts of millions of music fans." -- Provided by publisher. Strong language. 2016.
DB109385 Still So Excited!: My Life as a Pointer Sister

Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting
DB107561 16 hours 49 minutes
by Jimmy Webb
read by Mark Ashby
Guide to songwriting by a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. With a combination of anecdotes, meditation, and advice, he breaks down the creative process from beginning to end--from coping with writer's block to song construction, chords, and even self-promotion. Strong language. 1998.
DB107561 Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting

Nature and the Environment

Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters
DB108950 7 hours 19 minutes
by Steven E. Koonin
read by Jay Aaseng
"You've heard all this presented as fact. But according to science, all of these statements are profoundly misleading. When it comes to climate change, the media, politicians, and other prominent voices have declared that "the science is settled." In reality, the long game of telephone from research to reports to the popular media is corrupted by misunderstanding and misinformation. Core questions--about the way the climate is responding to our influence, and what the impacts will be--remain largely unanswered. The climate is changing, but the why and how aren't as clear as you've probably been led to believe. Now, one of America's most distinguished scientists is clearing away the fog to explain what science really says (and doesn't say) about our changing climate. In Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters, Steven Koonin draws upon his decades of experience--including as a top science advisor to the Obama administration--to provide up-to-date insights and expert perspective free from political agendas. Fascinating, clear-headed, and full of surprises, this book gives readers the tools to both understand the climate issue and be savvier consumers of science media in general. Koonin takes readers behind the headlines to the more nuanced science itself, showing us where it comes from and guiding us through the implications of the evidence. He dispels popular myths and unveils little-known truths: despite a dramatic rise in greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures actually decreased from 1940 to 1970. What's more, the models we use to predict the future aren't able to accurately describe the climate of the past, suggesting they are deeply flawed. Koonin also tackles society's response to a changing climate, using data-driven analysis to explain why many proposed "solutions" would be ineffective, and discussing how alternatives like adaptation and, if necessary, geoengineering will ensure humanity continues to prosper. Unsettled is a reality check buoyed by hope, offering the truth about climate science that you aren't getting elsewhere--what we know, what we don't, and what it all means for our future." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
DB108950 Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters

A Natural History of North American Trees
DB108971 17 hours 24 minutes
by Donald Culross Peattie
read by Mark Ashby
""A volume for a lifetime" is how The New Yorker described the first of Donald Culross Peatie's two books about American trees published in the 1950s. In this one-volume edition, modern readers are introduced to one of the best nature writers of the last century. As we read Peattie's eloquent and entertaining accounts of American trees, we catch glimpses of our country's history and past daily life that no textbook could ever illuminate so vividly. Here you'll learn about everything from how a species was discovered to the part it played in our country's history. Pioneers often stabled an animal in the hollow heart of an old sycamore, and the whole family might live there until they could build a log cabin. The tuliptree, the tallest native hardwood, is easier to work than most softwood trees; Daniel Boone carved a sixty-foot canoe from one tree to carry his family from Kentucky into Spanish territory. In the days before the Revolution, the British and the colonists waged an undeclared war over New England's white pines, which made the best tall masts for fighting ships. It's fascinating to learn about the commercial uses of various woods -- for paper, fine furniture, fence posts, matchsticks, house framing, airplane wings, and dozens of other preplastic uses. But we cannot read this book without the occasional lump in our throats. The American elm was still alive when Peattie wrote, but as we read his account today we can see what caused its demise. Audubon's portrait of a pair of loving passenger pigeons in an American beech is considered by many to be his greatest painting. It certainly touched the poet in Donald Culross Peattie as he depicted the extinction of the passenger pigeon when the beech forest was destroyed. A Natural History of North American Trees gives us a picture of life in America from its earliest days to the middle of the last century. The information is always interesting, though often heartbreaking. While Peattie looks for the better side of man's nature, he reports sorrowfully on the greed and waste that have doomed so much of America's virgin forest." -- Provided by publisher. 2007.
DB108971 A Natural History of North American Trees

Science

Journey to the Edge of Reason: The Life of Kurt Gödel
DB108940 8 hours 56 minutes
by Stephen Budiansky
read by Bob Souer
"The first major biography of the logician and mathematician whose incompleteness theorems helped launch a modern scientific revolution. Nearly a hundred years after its publication, Kurt Gödel's famous proof that every mathematical system must contain propositions that are true-yet never provable-continues to unsettle mathematics, philosophy, and computer science. Yet unlike Einstein, with whom he formed a warm and abiding friendship, Gödel has long escaped all but the most casual scrutiny of his life. An intimate portrait of the scientific and intellectual circles in prewar Vienna and a vivid re-creation of the early days of Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study, Journey to the Edge of Reason is the first biography to fully draw upon Gödel's voluminous letters and writings-including a never-before-transcribed shorthand diary of his most intimate thoughts-to explore his profound intellectual friendships, his moving relationship with his mother, his troubled yet devoted marriage, and the debilitating bouts of paranoia that ultimately took his life. It illuminates the mind-bending implications of Gödel's revolutionary ideas for philosophy, mathematics, artificial intelligence, and man's place in the cosmos." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
DB108940 Journey to the Edge of Reason: The Life of Kurt Gödel

Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle
DB109033 12 hours 54 minutes
by Jody Rosen
read by Amanda Carlin
"The bicycle is a vestige of the Victorian era, seemingly at odds with our age of smartphones and ride-sharing apps and driverless cars. Yet we live on a bicycle planet. Across the world, more people travel by bicycle than any other form of transportation. Almost anyone can learn to ride a bike--and nearly everyone does. In Two Wheels Good, journalist and critic Jody Rosen reshapes our understanding of this ubiquitous machine, an ever-present force in humanity's life and dream life--and a flash point in culture wars--for more than two hundred years. Combining history, reportage, travelogue, and memoir, Rosen's book sweeps across centuries and around the globe, unfolding the bicycle's saga from its invention in 1817 to its present-day renaissance as a "green machine," an emblem of sustainability in a world afflicted by pandemic and climate change. Readers meet unforgettable characters: feminist rebels who steered bikes to the barricades in the 1890s, a prospector who pedaled across the frozen Yukon to join the Klondike gold rush, a Bhutanese king who races mountain bikes in the Himalayas, a cycle-rickshaw driver who navigates the seething streets of the world's fastest-growing megacity, astronauts who ride a floating bicycle in zero gravity aboard the International Space Station. Two Wheels Good examines the bicycle's past and peers into its future, challenging myths and clich‚s while uncovering cycling's connection to colonial conquest and the gentrification of cities. But the book is also a love letter: a reflection on the sensual and spiritual pleasures of bike riding and an ode to an engineering marvel--a wondrous vehicle whose passenger is also its engine." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB109033 Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle

Social Sciences

Understanding Suicide: A National Epidemic
DB108609 4 hours 27 minutes
by Connie Goldsmith
read by Kathryn Markey
"Suicide is among the top three causes of death for young people ages 15 to 24. In fact, this global epidemic claims 41,000 lives per year in the United States alone. Suicide touches people of all ages--from those who consider and attempt suicide to those who lose a loved to suicide. Yet silence often surrounds these deaths and makes suicide difficult to understand. Looking beyond common myths and misconceptions, author Connie Goldsmith examines common risk factors and covers warning signs, ways to reach out to a suffering loved one, and precautions that can save lives. And survivors' personal stories offer honest examinations of both grief and hope." -- Provided by publisher. For senior high and older readers. 2017.
DB108609 Understanding Suicide: A National Epidemic

Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement
DB109215 10 hours 37 minutes
by Wendy L. Rouse
read by Mary March
"The women's suffrage movement, much like many other civil rights movements, has an important and often unrecognized queer history. In Public Faces, Secret Lives Wendy L. Rouse reveals that, contrary to popular belief, the suffrage movement included a variety of individuals who represented a range of genders and sexualities. However, owing to the constant pressure to present a "respectable" public image, suffrage leaders publicly conformed to gendered views of ideal womanhood in order to make women's suffrage more palatable to the public. Rouse argues that queer suffragists did take meaningful action to assert their identities and legacies by challenging traditional concepts of domesticity, family, space, and death in both subtly subversive and radically transformative ways. Queer suffragists also built lasting alliances and developed innovative strategies in order to protect their most intimate relationships, ones that were ultimately crucial to the success of the suffrage movement. Public Faces, Secret Lives is the first work to truly recenter queer figures in the women's suffrage movement, highlighting their immense contributions as well as their numerous sacrifices.." -- Provided by publisher. 2022.
DB109215 Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement

Stage and Screen

Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro
DB107670 17 hours 54 minutes
by André Soares
read by Mark Ashby
Biography of the first Latin American actor to become a superstar. Born Ramón Samaniego to a prominent Mexican family, he arrived in America in 1916, and by the mid-1920s he had become one of MGM's biggest box office attractions. Yet, despite his considerable professional accomplishments, Novarro's enduring hold on fame stems from his scandalous death. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2010.
DB107670 Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro

Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master
DB109122 16 hours 59 minutes
by Gwenda Young
read by Eva Wilhelm
"Greta Garbo proclaimed him as her favorite director. Actors, actresses, and even child stars were so at ease under his direction that they were able to deliver inspired and powerful performances. Academy Award-nominated director Clarence Brown (1890-1987) worked with some of Hollywood's greatest stars, such as Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Mickey Rooney, Katharine Hepburn, and Spencer Tracy. Known as the "star maker," he helped guide the acting career of child sensation Elizabeth Taylor (of whom he once said, "she has a face that is an act of God") and discovered Academy Award-winning child star Claude Jarman Jr. for The Yearling (1946). He directed more than fifty films, including Possessed (1931), Anna Karenina (1935), National Velvet (1944), and Intruder in the Dust (1949), winning his audiences over with glamorous star vehicles, tales of families, communities, and slices of Americana, as well as hard-hitting dramas. Although Brown was admired by peers like Jean Renoir, Frank Capra, and John Ford, his illuminating work and contributions to classic cinema are rarely mentioned in the same breath as those of Hollywood's great directors. In this first full-length account of the life and career of the pioneering filmmaker, Gwenda Young discusses Brown's background to show how his hardworking parents and resilient grandparents inspired his entrepreneurial spirit. She reveals how the one-time engineer and World War I aviator established a thriving car dealership, the Brown Motor Car Company, in Alabama--only to give it all up to follow his dream of making movies. He would not only become a brilliant director but also a craftsman who was known for his innovative use of lighting and composition. In a career spanning five decades, Brown was nominated for five Academy Awards and directed ten different actors in Oscar-nominated performances. Despite his achievements and influence, however, Brown has been largely overlooked by film scholars. Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master explores the forces that shaped a complex man--part-dreamer, part-pragmatist--who left an indelible mark on cinema." -- Provided by publisher. Some strong language. 2018.
DB109122 Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master

US History

The Wreck of the Old 97
DB109210 4 hours 58 minutes
by Larry G. Aaron
read by Doug Ramsdell
"With Fast Mail train No. 97 an hour behind schedule, locomotive engineer Steve Broady, according to legend, swore to "put her in Spencer on time" or "put her in Hell." Through eyewitness reports and court testimonies, historian Larry Aaron expertly pieces together the events of September 27, 1903, at Danville, Virginia, when the Old 97 plummeted off a forty-five-foot trestle into the ravine below. With more twists and turns than the railroad tracks on which the Old 97 ran, this book chronicles the story of one of the most famous train wrecks in American history, as well as the controversy surrounding "The Wreck of the Old 97," that most famous ballad, which secured the Old 97 a place within the annals of American folklore." -- Provided by publisher. 2011.
DB109210 The Wreck of the Old 97

Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero
DB108923 8 hours 24 minutes
by Cate Lineberry
read by JD Jackson
"Facing death rather than enslavement-a story of one man's triumphant choice and ultimate rise to national hero. It was a mild May morning in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1862, the second year of the Civil War, when a twenty-three-year-old slave named Robert Smalls did the unthinkable and boldly seized a Confederate steamer. With his wife and two young children hidden on board, Smalls and a small crew ran a gauntlet of heavily armed fortifications in Charleston Harbor and delivered the valuable vessel and the massive guns it carried to nearby Union forces. To be unsuccessful was a death sentence for all. Smalls' courageous and ingenious act freed him and his family from slavery and immediately made him a Union hero while simultaneously challenging much of the country's view of what African Americans were willing to do to gain their freedom. After his escape, Smalls served in numerous naval campaigns off Charleston as a civilian boat pilot and eventually became the first black captain of an Army ship. In a particularly poignant moment Smalls even bought the home that he and his mother had once served in as house slaves." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
DB108923 Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

World History

Njinga of Angola
DB109524 12 hours 50 minutes
by Linda M. Heywood
read by Catherine Byers
"One of history's most multifaceted rulers but little known in the West, Queen Njinga rivaled Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great in political cunning and military prowess. Today, she is revered in Angola as a heroine and honored in folk religions. Her complex legacy forms a crucial part of the collective memory of the Afro-Atlantic world." -- Provided by publisher. 2017.
DB109524 Njinga of Angola

The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat
DB109063 8 hours 21 minutes
by Eric Jager
read by Ray Foushee
"The gripping true story of the duel to end all duels in medieval France as a resolute knight defends his wife's honor against the man she accuses of a heinous crime. In the midst of the devastating Hundred Years? War between France and England, Jean de Carrouges, a Norman knight fresh from combat in Scotland, returns home to yet another deadly threat. His wife, Marguerite, has accused squire Jacques Le Gris of rape. A deadlocked court decrees a trial by combat between the two men that will also leave Marguerite's fate in the balance. For if her husband loses the duel, she will be put to death as a false accuser. While enemy troops pillage the land, and rebellion and plague threaten the lives of all, Carrouges and Le Gris meet in full armor on a walled field in Paris. What follows is the final duel ever authorized by the Parlement of Paris, a fierce fight with lance, sword, and dagger before a massive crowd that includes the teenage King Charles VI, during which both combatants are wounded--but only one fatally. Based on extensive research in Normandy and Paris, The Last Duel brings to life a colorful, turbulent age and three unforgettable characters caught in a fatal triangle of crime, scandal, and revenge. The Last Duel is at once a moving human drama, a captivating true crime story, and an engrossing work of historical intrigue with themes that echo powerfully centuries later." -- Provided by publisher. Some violence. 2021.
DB109063 The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat

Afghanistan: A Military History from the Ancient Empires to the Great Game
DB109203 20 hours 19 minutes
by Ali Ahmad Jalali
read by Jared Zak
"Afghanistan: A Military History from the Ancient Empires to the Great Game covers the military history of a region encompassing Afghanistan, Central and South Asia, and West Asia, over some 2,500 years. This is the first comprehensive study in any language published on the millennia-long competition for domination and influence in one of the key regions of the Eurasian continent. Jalali's work covers some of the most important events and figures in world military history, including the armies commanded by Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, the Muslim conquerors, Chinggis Khan, Tamerlane, and Babur. Afghanistan was the site of their campaigns and the numerous military conquests that facilitated exchange of military culture and technology that influenced military developments far beyond the region. An enduring theme throughout Afghanistan is the strong influence of the geography and the often extreme nature of the local terrain. Invaders mostly failed because the locals outmaneuvered them in an unforgiving environment. Important segments include Alexander the Great, remembered to this day as a great victor, though not a grand builder; the rise of Islam in the early seventh century in the Arabian Peninsula and the monumental and enduring shift in the social and political map of the world brought by its conquering armies; the medieval Islamic era, when the constant rise and fall of ruling dynasties and the prevalence of an unstable security environment reinforced localism in political, social, and military life; the centuries-long impact of the destruction caused by Chinggis Khan's thirteenth century; early eighteenth century, when the Afghans achieved a remarkable military victory with extremely limited means leading to the downfall of the Persian Safavid dynasty; and the Battle of Panipat (1761), where Afghan Emperor Ahmad Shah Abdali decisively routed the Hindu confederacy under Maratha leadership, widely considered as one of the decisive battles of the world. It was in this period when the Afghans founded their modern state and a vast empire under Ahmad Shah Durrani, which shaped the environment for the arrival of the European powers and the Great Game." -- Provided by publisher. 2021.
DB109203 Afghanistan: A Military History from the Ancient Empires to the Great Game

River Kings: A New History of the Vikings From Scandinavia to the Silk Roads
DB108193 9 hours 54 minutes
by Cat Jarman
read by Kerry Dukin
"Follow an epic story of the Viking Age that traces the historical trail of an ancient piece of jewelry found in a Viking grave in England to its origins thousands of miles east in India. An acclaimed bioarchaeologist, Catrine Jarman has used cutting-edge forensic techniques to spark her investigation into the history of the Vikings who came to rest in British soil. By examining teeth that are now over one thousand years old, she can determine childhood diet--and thereby where a person was likely born. With radiocarbon dating, she can ascertain a death-date down to the range of a few years. And her research offers enlightening new visions of the roles of women and children in Viking culture. Three years ago, a Carnelian bead came into her temporary possession. River Kings sees her trace the path of this ancient piece of jewelry back to eighth-century Baghdad and India, discovering along the way that the Vikings' route was far more varied than we might think--that with them came people from the Middle East, not just Scandinavia, and that the reason for this unexpected integration between the Eastern and Western worlds may well have been a slave trade running through the Silk Road, all the way to Britain. Told as a riveting history of the Vikings and the methods we use to understand them, this is a major reassessment of the fierce, often-mythologized voyagers of the North--and of the global medieval world as we know it." -- Provided by publisher. 2022.
DB108193 River Kings: A New History of the Vikings From Scandinavia to the Silk Roads

Books for Children

Listed books were recently sent to cooperating libraries. Books and magazines are also available for immediate download from the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) site at nlsbard.loc.gov/. To order books or sign up for BARD, contact your local cooperating library.

Books are listed alphabetically within the headings Children’s Fiction and Children’s Nonfiction by subject category, author last name, and title. For example, the title Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown would be listed in Children’s Fiction under the Classics subject category and by the last name Brown.

NLS uses publisher-provided book descriptions for most new titles. These descriptions give patrons insight into book content, making it easier to identify titles of interest. These descriptions appear in the NLS Catalog, on BARD, and in NLS publications as "Provided by publisher" and are taken verbatim from the publisher. These descriptions do not represent the position of the Library of Congress and may reference other works or supplementary materials not available from NLS or in the NLS edition.

Children's Fiction

Adventure

The Littlest Voyageur
DB109347 2 hours 18 minutes
by Margi Preus
read by Graham Halstead
"In 1792, Jean Pierre Petit Le Rouge, a squirrel, eager for adventure, stows away in the canoe of a group of voyageurs, unaware of what they are traveling so far to trade." -- Provided by publisher. Commercial audiobook. For grades 2-4. 2020.
DB109347 The Littlest Voyageur

The Hike to Home
DB109541 8 hours 19 minutes
by Jess Rinker
read by Mary March
"Twelve-year-old Lin and her two new friends brave the wilderness to find a castle, prove a local legend, and discover the true meaning of home." -- Provided by publisher. For grades 4-7. 2022.
DB109541 The Hike to Home

Family

The Turtle of Oman
DB109496 4 hours 14 minutes
by Naomi Shihab Nye
read by Peter Ganim
"When Aref, a third-grader who lives in Muscat, Oman, refuses to pack his suitcase and prepare to move to Michigan, his mother asks for help from his grandfather, his Siddi, who takes Aref around the country, storing up memories he can carry with him to a new home." -- Provided by publisher. Commercial audiobook. For grades 3-6. 2022.
DB109496 The Turtle of Oman

Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son
DB108734 0 hours 10 minutes
by John Parra
read by Mark Ashby
"Today Juanito is accompanying his father who is in the landscaping business, and he takes his sketchbook along to draw anything that catches his eye, and gets to help his father plan an entire garden--and then help plant it. Includes an autobiographical note." -- Provided by publisher. For Preschool-grade 2. 2022.
DB108734 Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son

Fantasy

Tom and Ironskin: Dragon Storm, Book 1
DB108727 1 hours 48 minutes
by Alastair Chisholm
read by Siho Ellsmore
"Tom never knew dragons were real. Then he was taken to the Guild--a training ground for young dragonseers. Now he and his dragon, Ironskin, must bond, discover Ironskin's power, and train to be heroes. When Ironskin disappears, Tom worries that he isn't a dragonseer after all. Can Tom bring Ironskin back? And can he do it in time to help his kingdom?" -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For grades 2-4. 2022.
DB108727 Tom and Ironskin: Dragon Storm, Book 1

The Aurelia Curse: Dragon Rider
DB109523 9 hours 10 minutes
by Cornelia Funke
read by Barrie Kealoha
"Ben and the Greenblooms must protect a mythical new creature rising from the ocean--a creature who can bring either light or darkness to whoever it first meets. Now not even baby dragons can keep Ben and the Greenblooms from heading to California where the vast, mythical Aurelia will appear. It's a race against time to protect it, for if the Aurelia is hurt, all fabulous creatures will vanish from Earth. In the end, though, it may take the arrival of the original silver dragon, Firedrake, to help save them all." -- Provided by publisher. For grades 4-7. 2022.
DB109523 The Aurelia Curse: Dragon Rider

Witch in the City: Crimson Twill
DB109722 0 hours 43 minutes
by Kallie George
read by Ali Cheff
"Crimson Twill is a little witch, but you might not know it. She lives in the country and loves polka dots and puppies instead of pointy shoes and black dresses. She even wears a big bow on her hat--which is crimson, just like her name. Tonight, for the very first time, Crimson is riding on her mother's broom all the way to New Wart City to go shopping at Broomingdale's! The huge department store has everything a witch could itch for. For Crimson, each floor (hats! cats! brooms!) is a new adventure. But is Broomingdale's ready for a witch as unique as Crimson?" -- Provided by publisher. For grades 2-4. 2022.
DB109722 Witch in the City: Crimson Twill

Nura and the Immortal Palace
DB109095 6 hours 4 minutes
by M.T. Khan
read by Shiromi Arserio
"Searching for her buried friend after the mines collapse, twelve-year-old Pakistani mica miner Nura finds herself at the Sijj Palace, a luxury hotel for the dangerous and deceitful jinn, where she must discover the truth beneath the glitter or be trapped forever." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For grades 4-7. 2022.
DB109095 Nura and the Immortal Palace

Friendship

King of the Ice: Miles Lewis
DB109639 0 hours 40 minutes
by Kelly Starling Lyons
read by Kevin R. Free
"When his friend RJ bets that Miles will wipe out at the ice rink, he is determined to prove him wrong." -- Provided by publisher. Commercial audiobook. For grades 2-4. 2022.
DB109639 King of the Ice: Miles Lewis

Growing Up

Today I'm Strong
DB109149 0 hours 6 minutes
by Nadiya Hussain
read by Nadiya Hussain
"Most days, this little girl loves to go to school and play with her friends. But sometimes the schoolyard can feel like a battleground where she has to dodge mean words from a bully. Luckily, she always has her steadfast tiger by her side--even if she's the only one who can see it. With the reminder that strength comes from within, she digs deep to believe in herself, no matter what anyone else says." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For grades K-3. 2022.
DB109149 Today I'm Strong

School

Double, Double, Twins and Trouble
DB109760 2 hours 1 minutes
by Luna Graves
read by Barrie Kealoha
"In Peculiar, Pennsylvania, the supernatural kids, from ghosts to werewolves to witches, attend Yvette I. Koffin's Exceptional School for Supernatural Students (Y.I.K.E.S.S.S.), but while twins Bella and Donna have great powers they struggle at controlling their magic." -- Provided by publisher. For grades 2-4. 2022.
DB109760 Double, Double, Twins and Trouble

Science Fiction

Hana Hsu and the Ghost Crab Nation
DB109246 9 hours 0 minutes
by Sylvia Liu
read by Carolyn Kang
"In a near future where most adults are connected to the multiweb through neural implants, a twelve-year-old uncovers a corporate plot to genetically manipulate her classmates, and her scientist mother may be involved in the conspiracy." -- Provided by publisher. Commercial audiobook. For grades 5-8. 2022.
DB109246 Hana Hsu and the Ghost Crab Nation

Children's Nonfiction

Animals and Wildlife

Animal Exploration Lab for Kids: 52 Family-Friendly Activities for Learning about the Amazing Animal Kingdom
DB109699 4 hours 13 minutes
by Maggie Reinbold
read by Eva Wilhelm
"Animal Exploration Lab for Kids teaches kids about animal classifications, adaptations, and habitats." -- Provided by publisher. For grades 3-6. 2020.
DB109699 Animal Exploration Lab for Kids: 52 Family-Friendly Activities for Learning about the Amazing Animal Kingdom

Biography

Sharice's Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman
DB105175 0 hours 24 minutes
by Nancy K. Mays and Sharice Davids
read by Sharice Davids
An autobiography introduces US Representative Sharice Davids, one of the first Native American women elected to Congress and the first lesbian congressperson to represent Kansas. Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, shares her love of talking, listening, and martial arts. For grades K-3. 2021.
DB105175 Sharice's Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman

Colors of the Wind: The Story of Blind Artist and Champion Runner George Mendoza
DB106815 0 hours 33 minutes
by J.L. Powers
read by Bill Delaney
Profiles the life of George Mendoza, an athlete and artist who at the age of fifteen started to lose his sight from degenerative eye disease. Mendoza set a world record in the mile for blind runners and competed in the Paralympics. Now a full-time artist, Mendoza's collection of paintings, also titled Colors of the Wind, is a National Smithsonian Affiliates traveling exhibit. For grades K-3. 2021.
DB106815 Colors of the Wind: The Story of Blind Artist and Champion Runner George Mendoza

Cooking

Brains, Brains, and Other Horrifying Breakfasts
DB109217 0 hours 29 minutes
by Ali Vega
read by Shawn Hertel
"What can be as foul as it is fun to eat? Your breakfast! Learn how to create a variety of breakfast entrees that are both repulsive and delicious. Cook up dishes like a bowl of brains, spider eggs, and oozing zombie flesh. Cooking breakfast has never been so much fun--or so gross!" -- Provided by publisher. For grades 3-6. 2017.
DB109217 Brains, Brains, and Other Horrifying Breakfasts

Poetry

Honeybee: Poems & Short Prose
DB109497 2 hours 48 minutes
by Naomi Shihab Nye
read by Naomi Shihab Nye
"In eighty-two poems and paragraphs, Naomi Shihab Nye alights on the essentials of our time--our loved ones, our dense air, our wars, our memories, our planet--and leaves us feeling curiously sweeter and profoundly soothed." -- Provided by publisher. Commercial audiobook. For grades 4-7. 2022.
DB109497 Honeybee: Poems & Short Prose

Science

Light Bulb: Eureka! The Biography of an Idea
DB108778 0 hours 13 minutes
by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
read by Doug Tisdale Jr.
"A nonfiction biography of the light bulb from the electric precursors like the arc lamp to Thomas Edison's invention and beyond to current innovations in light bulb technology." -- Provided by publisher. For grades K-3. 2021.
DB108778 Light Bulb: Eureka! The Biography of an Idea