Library features new biographical titles

The new books below are a mixed bag, but the interesting thing is, the novels are almost more believable than the memoirs and biographical titles.  Check them out and see if you agree.  If you give up on the people, the animals have their own special wisdom to share.

Black Friday, a Maggie O’Dell Novel, by Alex Kava
On the busiest shopping day of the year, some idealistic college students believe they’re about to carry out an elaborate media stunt at the largest mall in America. They think the jamming devices in their backpacks will disrupt stores’ computer systems, causing delays and chaos. What they don’t realize is that instead of jamming devices, their backpacks are stuffed with explosives, ready to be detonated by remote control and turning them into suicide bombers.  Caught up in a political nightmare, battling a new interim director and still mourning the death of her boss A. D. Cunningham, FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell must put her own troubles aside and fly to Minnesota to help figure out what’s behind this terrorist attack.  A massacre that is all the more frightening because no group has claimed responsibility.

The Sound of Sleigh Bells, by Cindy Woodsmall
Beth Hertzler works alongside her beloved Aunt Lizzy in their dry goods store, and serving as contact of sorts between Amish craftsmen and Englischers who want to sell the Plain people’s wares. But remorse and loneliness still echo in her heart everyday as she still wears the dark garb, indicating mourning of her fiancé. When she discovers a large, intricately carved scene of Amish children playing in the snow, something deep inside Beth’s soul responds and she wants to help the unknown artist find homes for his work, including Lizzy’s dry goods store. But she doesn’t know if her bishop will approve of the gorgeous carving or deem it idolatry. Lizzy sees the changes in her niece when Beth shows her the woodworking, and after Lizzy hunts down Jonah, the artist, she is all the more determined that Beth meets this man with the hands that create healing art.

Traveling with Pomegranates: a mother-daughter story, by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
A wise and involving book about feminine thresholds, spiritual growth, and renewal, Traveling with Pomegranates, is a revealing self-portrait by the beloved author of The Secret Life of Bees and her daughter, a writer in the making. Sue Monk Kidd has touched millions of readers with her novels and with her acclaimed nonfiction. In this intimate dual memoir, she and her daughter, Ann, offer distinct perspectives as a fifty-something and a twenty-something, each on a quest to redefine and to rediscover each other.

Guardians of Being, by Eckhart Tolle
More than a collection of witty and charming drawings, the marriage of Patrick McDonnell’s art and Eckhart Tolle’s words conveys a profound love of nature, of animals, of humans, of all life-forms. Guardians of Being celebrates and reminds us of not only the oneness of all life but also the wonder and joy to be found in the present moment, amid the beauty we sometimes forget to notice all around us.

I, Alex Cross, by James Patterson
Alex Cross’s niece is found brutally murdered. Overcome with grief, Alex vows to take down her killer before he strikes again. But shortly after he begins the investigation, Alex discovers that his niece had gotten mixed up with some very important, very dangerous people – very dangerous people in levels of society where only one thing is certain – they will do “anything” to keep their secrets safe.

Miss O’Dell: My hard days and long nights with the Beatles, the Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the women they Loved, by Chris O’Dell.
She wasn’t famous.  She wasn’t even almost famous.  But she was there.  Miss O’Dell is the remarkable story of an ordinary woman who lived the dream of millions—to be part of rock royalty’s trusted inner circle. Illustrated with private photographs and packed with intimate anecdotes, this is a backstage pass to some of the most momentous events in rock history.

The Christmas Secret: a novel, by Donna Van Liere
When a struggling young single mother saves the life of an elderly woman, she sets into motion a series of events that will test her strength, loyalty, and determination, all the while putting her on the path to finding true love. The Christmas Secret is a novel for anyone who wants to see how love is a gift that keeps giving back; that hope is a treasure that never runs dry, and that faith is a miracle that is reborn with each new day.

Animal Magnetism: My life with Creatures Great and Small, by Rita Mae Brown
In her clear and personable style, Brown revisits the very human parts of her life-growing up in the segregated South, dealing with the pain and the loss of those dearest to her, and coming into her own as an adult and as a writer. Every recollection here reveals nature’s delight and wonder, and offers solid evidence of the ability of animals to love. As funny as it is poignant, Animal Magnetism shows how these inspiring creatures, great and small, can bring out the best in us, restore us to our greater selves, and even save our lives.

How to be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood, by William J. Mann
Readers will feel they are sitting next to Taylor as she rises at MGM, survives a marriage engineered for publicity, feuds with Hedda Hopper and Mr. Mayer, wins Oscars, endures tragedy, juggles Eddie Fisher, Richard Burton and her country’s conservative values. But it is the private Elizabeth that will surprise—a woman of heart and loyalty, who defends underdogs, a savvy professional whose anger at the studio’s treatment of her led to a lifelong battle against that very system. All the Elizabeth’s are here, finally reconciled and seen against the exciting years of her greatest spirit, beauty, and influence, leading her epic life on her own terms, playing the game of supreme stardom at which she remains, to this day, unmatched.