New Arrivals! April 21-09

I had a very successful trip to the library this week. I think someone else is reading all the same books I am, and he/she brought them back, because all the books I've been waiting for for WEEKS are there.

Carbs & Cadavers by J.B. Stanley. Description: Except for an extra fifty pounds, former English Lit professor James Henry hasn't got much left to lose. Recently divorced, he's left the university job he loved and returned to his hometown to care for his cranky widowed father. To improve his social life and his waistline, James joins a new supper club for dieters, where he meets Lucy Hanover, an attractive woman who works in the sheriff's department and dreams of becoming a deputy someday. When someone mysteriously drops dead in the Sweet Tooth Bakery, James and his fellow dieters find themselves in the midst of a sticky murder investigation. Dodging delectable temptations, savory treats, and bullets, the supper club members must work together to find the killer.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Description: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary. Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon. Description: Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

I also have a recent contest win that I'm pretty excited about. Fire at Midnight by Lisa Marie Wilkinson. Description: Rachael Penrose is confined to Bedlam insane asylum in London after discovering that her uncle Victor plans to kill her brother in order to inherit the family fortune. Victor, with a gang of criminals, uses French privateer Sebastien Falconer as the scapegoat for his crimes. When Victor spreads the lie that Rachael informed on Falconer’s smuggling activities, Falconer vows revenge on the girl. Gripping suspense and romance play out in front of numerous historical details, including a violent storm that devastated England in 1703 and swept the Eddystone Lighthouse into the sea.

Reviews of these books and many, many others (I think I burned a hole in my libary card) coming up in the next couple of weeks.