Readers’ Advisory Committee

STAFF PICKS - AUGUST 2015 Libraries To find on the web go to www.nccde.org/libraries and click on “What Do I Read Next” FICTION

MY GRANDMOTHER ASKED ME TO TELL YOU SHE’S SORRY BY FREDRIK BACKMAN (SM) Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother's stories, in the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal. When Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa's greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother's letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and the right to be different. DEMONOLOGIST BY ANDREW PYPER (PICKED BY KS) Professor David Ullman is among the world’s leading authorities on demonic literature, with special expertise in Milton’s Paradise Lost. David is not a believer, so when the mysterious Thin Woman arrives at his office and invites him to travel to Venice and witness a “phenomenon,” he turns her down. She leaves plane tickets and an address on his desk, advising David that her employer is not often disappointed. That evening, David’s wife announces she is leaving him. With his life suddenly in shambles, he impulsively whisks his beloved 12 year-old daughter, Tess, off to Venice after all. But what happens in Venice will change everything. What follows is an unimaginable journey for David Ullman from skeptic to true believer. In a terrifying quest guided by symbols and riddles from the pages of Paradise Lost, David must track the demon that has captured his daughter and discover its name. If he fails, he will lose Tess forever.

THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO US BY ANNIE BARROWS (PICKED BY SH) Evoking the same small town charm with the same great eye for character, the co-author of The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society finds her own voice in this debut novel about a young debutante working for the Federal Writer's Project whose arrival in Macedonia, West Virginia, changes the course of history for a prominent family who has been sitting on a secret for decades. The Romeyn family is a fixture in the town, their identity tied to its knotty history. Layla Beck enters their lives and lights a match to the family veneer and a truth comes to light that will change each of their lives forever.

THE MAPMAKER’S CHILDREN BY SARAH MCCOY (PICKED BY SM) When Sarah Brown, daughter of abolitionist John Brown, realizes that her artistic talents may be able to help save the lives of slaves fleeing north, she becomes one of the Underground Railroad’s leading mapmakers, taking her cues from the slave code quilts and hiding her maps within her paintings. She boldly embraces this calling after being told the shocking news that she can’t bear children, but as the country steers toward bloody civil war, Sarah faces difficult sacrifices that could put all she loves in peril. Eden, a modern woman desperate to conceive a child with her husband, moves to an old house in the suburbs and discovers a porcelain head hidden in the root cellar—the remains of an Underground Railroad doll with an extraordinary past of secret messages, danger and deliverance. Ingeniously plotted to a riveting end, Sarah and Eden’s woven lives connect the past to the present, forcing each of them to define courage, family, love, and legacy in a new way.

New Castle County Libraries | Department of Community Services | Tom Gordon, County Executive STAFF PICKS FICTION

LUCKIEST GIRLIRL ALIVE BY JESSICA KNOLL (PICKED BY SM) As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve. But Ani has a secret. There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything. With a singular voice and twists you won’t see coming, Luckiest Girl Alive explores the unbearable that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that's bigger than it first appears. The question remains: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for—or, will it at long last, set Ani free?

THE LITTLEITTLE PARIS BOOKSHOP BY NINAINA GEORGE (PICKED BY SLH & SH) Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened. After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

THE STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL SORROWS OF AVA LAVENDER BY LESLYE WALTON [TEEN] (KT) Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird. In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration. That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.

A PARIS AFFAIR BY TATIANA DE ROSNAY (PICKED BY SLH) Does a fruit taste its sweetest when it is forbidden? Is that which is prohibited always the most pleasurable? In this passionate and perceptive collection, Tatiana de Rosnay paints a portrait of the most forbidden of loves, in many different shades—sometimes tragic, sometimes humorous, sometimes heartfelt, always with a dry wit and an unflinching authenticity. A Paris Affair is an enjoyable "undressing" of intimate delights, where laughter mingles with compassion and the heartbeats of illicit desire.

THE ASSASSIN BY (PICKED BY SR) As Van Dorn private detective Isaac Bell strives to land a government contract to investigate John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil monopoly, the case takes a deadly turn. A sniper begins murdering opponents of Standard Oil, and soon the assassin—shooting with extraordinary accuracy at seemingly impossible long range—kills Bell’s best witness, a brave and likable man. Then the shooter detonates a terrible explosion that sets the victim’s independent refinery ablaze. Bell summons his best detectives to scour the site of the crime for evidence. Who is the assassin and for whom did he kill? But the murders—shootings, poisonings, staged accidents— have just begun as Bell tracks his phantom-like criminal adversary from the “oil fever” regions of Kansas and Texas to Washington, D.C., to the tycoons’ enclave of New York, to Russia’s war-torn Baku oil fields on the Caspian Sea, and back to America for a final, desperate confrontation. And this one will be the most explosive of all.

New Castle County Libraries | Department of Community Services | Tom Gordon, County Executive STAFF PICKS AUGUST 2015 Libraries

NON--FICTION

THE QUARTET BY JOSEPH ELLIS (PICKEDICKED BY KS) The triumph of the American Revolution was neither an ideological nor political guarantee that the colonies would relinquish their independence and accept the creation of a federal government with power over their individual autonomy. The Quartet is the story of this second American founding and of the men responsible-- George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, Robert Morris and Governor Morris. It was these men who shaped the contours of American history by diagnosing the systemic dysfunctions created by the Articles of Confederation, manipulating the political process to a calling of the Constitutional Convention, conspiring to set the agenda in Philadelphia, orchestrating the debate in the state ratifying conventions, and, finally, drafting the Bill of Rights to assure state compliance with the constitutional settlement. ALPHABETICAL BY MICHAELICHAEL ROSEN (PICKEDICKED BY SLH) From minding your Ps and Qs to wondering why X should mark the spot, Alphabetical is a book for everyone who loves words and language. Whether it's how letters are arranged on keyboards, Viking runes, or text speak this book will change the way you think about letters forever. How on Earth did we fix upon our twenty-six letters, what do they really mean, and how did we come to write them down in the first place? Michael Rosen takes you on an unforgettable adventure through the history of the alphabet in twenty-six vivid chapters, fizzing with personal anecdotes and fascinating facts. He pins down the strange story of OK, traces our five lost letters and tackles the tyranny of spelling, among many other things. Each chapter takes on a different subject - whether it's codes, umlauts or the writing of dictionaries. Rosen's enthusiasm for letters positively leaps off the page. So if you ever wondered why Hawaiian only has a thirteen-letter alphabet or how exactly to write down the sound of a wild raspberry, read on ... COWED BY DENIS HAYES AND GAIL BOYER HAYES (PICKEDICKED BY SM) As a source of labor and food, cows were integral to the settlement of the American frontier, and they have placed an indelible stamp on American culture, politics, and economics. In Cowed, Denis and Gail Boyer Hayes offer a nuanced look at our centuries-long relationship with this animal, how cows helped us tame the wild American landscape and how their outsized influence on soil and air quality today threatens plant and animal populations and endangers our own well-being. The national herd of 93 million cows is wasteful and unsustainable and poses a threat to our environment and health. To produce one calorie of beef protein requires 40 calories of energy that could be used to light homes, transport water, or grow crops. Written by two lifelong advocates of sustainable living, Cowed explores the alarming effects of our dependence on cows, and it proposes practical ways to improve our health while protecting the environment. PIRATEIRATE HUNTERS BY (PICKEDICKED BY SMC) The odds of finding a bona fide pirate ship are quite rare, a fact Robert Kurson points out in the first few pages of this extraordinary adventure. The subjects of Kurson’s latest, and John Mattera, are undeterred by such unlikelihood in their conquest to locate the elusive Golden Fleece, the 17th-century ship captained by Joseph Bannister, lost somewhere in the waters near the Dominican Republic. Kurson takes readers on a wild ride alongside these bigger-than-life pirate hunters as they navigate the red tape of maritime code, dead ends, and dwindling resources, as well as rival hunters keen on beating them to the prize. Kurson also examines the many myths surrounding pirates in their golden age, some of which were true (they did keep parrots). Kurson’s own enthusiasm, combined with his copious research and an eye for detail, makes for one of the most mind-blowing pirate stories of recent memory. New Castle County Libraries | STAFF PICKS NON-FICTION CONTINUED

FASTEST THINGS ON WINGSINGS BY TERRY MASEAR (PICKED BY SMC) Before he collided with a limousine, Gabriel, an Anna’s hummingbird with a head and throat cloaked in iridescent magenta feathers, could spiral 130 feet in the air, dive 60 miles per hour in a courtship display, hover, and fly backward. When he arrived in rehab caked in road grime, he was so badly injured that he could barely perch. But Terry Masear, one of the busiest hummingbird rehabbers in the country, was determined to save this damaged bird, who seemed oddly familiar. During the four months that Terry worked with Gabriel, she took in 160 hummingbirds, from a miniature nestling rescued by a bulldog to Pepper, a female Anna’s injured on a film set. In their time together, Pepper and Gabriel form a special bond and, together, with Terry’s help, learn to fly again. Woven around Gabriel’s and Pepper’s stories are those of other colorful birds in this personal narrative filled with the science and magic surrounding these fascinating creatures.

THE GODDESS POSE BY MICHELLEICHELLE GOLDBERG (PICKED BY SMC) When the woman who would become Indra Devi was born in Russia in 1899, yoga was virtually unknown outside of India. By the time of her death, in 2002, it was being practiced everywhere. In The Goddess Pose, Michelle Goldberg traces the life of the incredible woman who brought yoga to the West—and in so doing paints a sweeping picture of the twentieth century. Her greatest coup was convincing a recalcitrant master yogi to train her in the secrets of his art. Devi would go on to share what she learned with people around the world, teaching in Shanghai during World War II, then in Hollywood, where her students included Gloria Swanson and Greta Garbo. She ran a yoga school in Mexico during the height of the counterculture, and in her eighties, moved to Buenos Aires at the invitation of a besotted rock star. Everywhere she went, Indra Devi evangelized for yoga, ushering in a global craze that continues unabated.

AMERICAN MOJO LOST AND FOUND BY PETER KIERNANIERNAN (PICKED BY SM) Our educated, skilled and motivated middle class was the cornerstone of America’s postwar economic might. But the country’s dynamic core has struggled and changed dramatically through the last three decades. Kiernan’s story, told through individual histories, shows how the middle class flourished following World War II, and details how our middle class has been rocked and shaped by events abroad as much as at home. What emerges through his storytelling is a picture of middle class decline and opportunity that is fuller, and ultimately more useful in terms of charting a path forward than other examinations. His unique global perspective is a vital ingredient in charting the way ahead. This new frontier thesis shows that middle class greatness is again within our grasp—if we take some powerful medicine and seize the global opportunity. Americans must embrace what brought our middle class to prominence in the first place—our American Mojo—before it is too late and other countries steal the march.

ELEMENTS OF WITIT BY BENJAMIN ERRETT (PICKED BY SM) We’ve all been in that situation where we need to say something clever, but innocuous; smart enough to show some intelligence, without showing off; something funny, but not a joke. What we need in that moment is wit—that sparkling combination of charm, humor, confidence, and most of all, the right words at the right time. This engaging book brings together the greatest wits of our time, and previous ones from Oscar Wilde to Nora Ephron, Winston Churchill to Christopher Hitchens, Mae West to Louis CK, and many in between. With chapters covering the essential ingredients of wit, this primer sheds light on how anyone can find the right zinger, quip, parry, or retort…or at least be a little bit more interesting.

IS THIS THING ON? BY ABBY STOKES (PICKED BY SLH) Like a personal trainer for the digital age, Abby Stokes is the hand-holding, motivating expert that newbies—specifically older newbies—turn to when they want to become digitally literate. Her book, Is This Thing On? is as smart, comprehensive, reassuring, and jargon-free as she is: the epitome of user-friendly. And it is now completely revised and updated to keep pace with the fast-changing digital landscape, covering tablets, apps, video streaming, social media, and much more.

Reviews excerpted from amazon.com and goodreads.com