Devil’s Bridge

By Linda Fairstein

Detective Mike Chapman is met with his toughest case yet. His girlfriend is kidnapped and he can’t sleep or think of anything but finding Alex Cooper. At first he thinks the abduction is due a case she has prosecuted in the past, and then he realizes that she has been abducted for a totally different reason. Listen to this book on CD or you can enjoy it in print, I think you will find it intriguing and have you on the edge of your seat.


~ Beckie H.

The Owl Who Liked Sitting on Caesar

By Martin Windrow

Martin Windrow’s older brother and his wife own a farm in the countryside of England near the town of Kent called Water Farm.  His brother is a falconer and his wife has a pet owl that she keeps in the house.  After an extended visit to his brother’s farm, Martin couldn’t resist the desire to have an owl of his own.  His first attempt ended with his owl flying away from the ‘bird sitter’ when Martin was out of town.  His second attempt was a fifteen year success story.  What a delightful book!  This type of relationship with a wild bird is every child’s dream (and mine).  This book is very eye opening regarding what life would be like with a wild bird.  Some aspects are life changing and wonderful and some are a bit disgusting.  It is very obvious that Martin felt that the wonderful aspects far outweighed the less wonderful.  Fiction is fun but a true story such as this tops any imaginary story.

~Beckie

The Sparrow Sisters

by Ellen Herrick

When Henry Carlyle, the new young doctor, moves to a tiny seaside town, he catches everyone's attention in the tight-knit community--including that of Patience Sparrow, local healer, who runs a garden and nursery with her sisters, Sorrel and Nettie. Patience has a knack for knowing just what people need, whether it be an herb or tincture, or just a good chat, and her moods are revealed through the mystical scents of her garden that seem to follow her around. Just as the two most skilled at mending people begin to grow closer, a tragedy and an accusation against Patience stir up the townsfolk and lead to a legal battle that will reveal where loyalties truly lie. The fears that threaten to tear the town apart--both literally and figuratively--may actually bring everyone closer together. Written with a touch of magical realism, this first novel from Ellen Herrick is rightly called in a review "a haunting, magical, modern-day fairytale. A feast for the senses."

~Kaleena

Birding for the Curious: the easiest way for anyone to explore the incredible world of birds

by Nate Zwick

Written by an editor for the American Birding Association blog, this entry level birding manual focuses on the fundamentals of bird-watching.  Chapters discuss which guides are best, how to buy binoculars, birding with friends,  how to ID birds, and attract birds to your backyard.   Nate is very informed.  His ability to condense information is invaluable to the beginner birder.

If you want to try a new hobby, this book is a great place to start.  It would also make a nice Christmas gift for that family member that has everything.

-Holly

Death Comes to Pemberley

TV Mini-Series based on the book by P.D. James

It is October 1803, the eve of a ball hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy. On their way to the ball late that evening an argument breaks out between George Wickham and Captain Denny in the carriage, with Wickham's wife (and Elizabeth's sister), Lydia, also present. The two leave the carriage in anger and disappear into the woodland, where two gunshots are heard. Upon hearing the news, Darcy sends out a search party and Wickham is found distraught and hysterical holding Denny's body, blaming himself for his murder.

We get to see most of the major characters from Pride and Prejudice once again and see how they all weather through this murder trial and how it effects their lives.

~Crystal

The Hands on Home: a seasonal guide to cooking, preserving, and natural homekeeping

by Erica Strauss

This book, written by a famous blogger,  is an ingenious book that everyone should own.  It is chock full of recipes and advice that could make the most reluctant housekeeper confident and frugal.

The recipes cover everything from homemade ricotta to rhubarb syrup.  The homemade cleaners include Greasy Grime Spray and Fizzy Bath Bombs.   Erica Strauss is an intrepid domestic.  Check this book out for inspiration.

-Holly

Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely #1)

By Melissa Marr

Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.
Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries.

Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.

Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens. Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer. Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

~Crystal

 

Pirate Hunters

Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship
By Robert Kurson

I’m not all that interested in pirates.  I’m not into scuba diving.  But from the first sentence, I couldn’t pull this book out of my hands.  The author takes you on an adventure to find a pirate shipwreck.  You can feel the frustration of the searchers, share in their excitement, and get lost in the history of Captain Bannister.  It was a different kind of story for me to read, but the writing style is so easy to read you’re through the book in no time.  Give this one a try if you want a little adventure!

~Becky

Hollywood Vampires

A CD review!

If you love good old classic rock, this will be a fun listen for you.  (Originally, the Hollywood Vampires were a drinking club formed by Alice Cooper in the 1970s)  All the songs are covers, such as “I Got a Line on You”, “School’s Out”, and “Break on Through.”  Most of them have Alice Cooper doing the main vocals, but he’s not alone—Sir Paul McCartney, Brian Johnson, and Perry Farrell join in, with musicians like Joe Perry, Kip Winger, and Johnny Depp.  This is awesome rockin’ music, dude.

~Becky

Letters to the Lost

by Iona Grey

A woman hiding from an abusive boyfriend stumbles across a letter from someone trying to find a lover from World War II.  She can’t ignore the plea for help to reunite the two—and time is not a luxury.  The book waffles between the past and present, and even as the reader, you desperately want to find out what happened all those years ago.  A review on the back cover encompasses it perfectly: “An epic story of love and loss that will break your heart.”

~Becky

500 Words You Should Know

By Caroline Taggart

Words are beautiful and versatile things, but when used incorrectly they can lose a lot in transition, and the more complex the word, the more misused it can become. And as words eternally evolve in their everyday use, they can begin to be interpreted as something other than their original meaning. This book will inspire the reader to use uncommon words in their correct context, to utilize the English language to its full potential, and to test themselves on the words they think they already know.

~Crystal

The Wife's Tale

By Lori Lansens

On the eve of their Silver Anniversary, Mary Gooch is waiting for her husband Jimmy to come home. As night turns to day, it becomes clear to Mary that he is gone. Through the years, disappointment and worry have brought Mary's life to a standstill, and she has let her world shrink to the path from the bedroom to the refrigerator. But her husband's disappearance startles her out it and she begins a desperate search. For the first time in her life, she boards a plane and flies across the country to find her lost husband. So used to hiding from the world, Mary finds that in the bright sun and broad vistas of California, she is forced to look up from the pavement. And what she finds fills her with inner strength she's never felt before.

Despite my best efforts, I could not get into this book. It’s just not my kind.

~Crystal

Hot Chocolate

By Michael Turback

‘Tis the season for hot cocoa. This book has many different hot chocolates, you will find your favorite in here. Spicy, old world, different countries, adult; so many variations on my favorite thing during cold weather.

~Crystal

Garden of Lies

By Amanda Quick

This book is full of mystery and intrigue and a fair amount of sizzle.  Ursula Kern, the heroine, wants to discover who killed her good friend and employee Anne Clifton.  But what was Anne involved in that got her killed?  Ursula goes undercover to solve the mystery and discovers some unexpected truths.  Ursula owns a temp agency for secretarial work and accepts help from one of her employers.  While she and Slater Roxton, the previously mentioned employer are un-covering clues, she falls in love. I’m sure you will be very entertained by this book (or book on CD).

~Beckie

The making of home: the 500-year story of how our houses became our homes

By Judith Flanders

This fascinating work discusses the change of how a dwelling to provide shelter morphed into what we now call home. It examines the technological advances that came along, i.e. chimneys, indoor plumbing, sewers, public water supplies, heating, cooking space, lighting, household appliances, etc. and how they affected the structure of houses.

Flanders also considers the emotional and sociological changes of what describes a family and the effect they had on the home/house. She discusses the changing role of wife as partner to wife as housewife, an economic non-entity, due to the Industrial Revolution.

An interesting look at the past with the focus on HOME.

~ Rochelle