New Books This Week

The Library will be closed Friday December 24th & Friday December 31st. Have a Safe and Happy Holiday Season!

New Books This week are:
In Adult Fiction:
Cross Fire by, James Patterson
Hell’s Corner by, David Baldacci
The Confession by, John Grisham
Port Mortuary by, Patricia Cornwell
Happy Ever After by, Nora Roberts
The Sherlockian by, Graham Moore
Sins of Omission by, Fern Michaels
The Eyre Affair by, Jasper Fforde

In Audio:
Norah by, Debbie MacComber
Hard Ball by, Sara Paretsky

In Young Adult:
The Red Pyramid by, Rick Riordan
Beautiful Darkness by, Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Gothic! By, Neil Gaiman & Various Authors
Twelfth Grade Kills by, Heather Brewer

In Juvenile Fiction:
The Fire Within-Ice Fire & Fire Star by, Chris D’Lacey

The Kitchen House by, Kathleen Grissom~~Review

The Kitchen House by, Kathleen Grissom

This was a very good well written story it is sad but there was a lot of sadness for slaves.
It is set in the late 1700’s & early 1800’s. Seven-Year-Old Lavinia is an Irish immigrant whose parents died on the trip over so Lavinia is taken by the Captain as an indentured servant to pay-off the trip. She is dropped off at the kitchen house with the slaves. Mama Mae takes her in and raises her as her own and Lavinia grows up being well loved by the family in the Kitchen House. This book is told in alternating chapters by, Lavinia & young slave girl Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.





The characters in this book are so well written you care about all of them. Except Rankin but you hate him because he is written as so revolting! This book was just so wonderful, it shows that family isn’t blood and that blood doesn’t make you family. This book was at times so heartbreaking and may make you cry! Everyone in this book goes through their share of hardships and it isn’t a happy book but there is just something about the story that is beautiful. I just don’t know how to express it but to say I loved this book!

I listened to this on audio narrated by, Orlagh Cassidy & Bahni Turpin it was wonderfully done both narrators bringing these characters to life.

5 Stars

Heat Wave by Richard Castle

Heat Wave by Richard Castle

The entertainment industry is split into various divisions, and they like very much to overlap. Books are adapted to film, film to television, perhaps to videogames and everything in between plus any sort of plausible combination is allowable. Most creative parties are aware and take advantage of this fact. Such is the case of Heat Wave. For those unfamiliar with the book’s background, Castle is an hourly procedural of sorts starring Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, an author of murder mystery novels, who assists in homicide cases with Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), the inspiration behind his newest novels. There’s a fantastic character dynamic between the two, one of give and take banter and a strong “will they or won’t they.” Heat Wave takes this aspect of the show and translates it perfectly to the written page. The mystery is solid enough, not enough to make me gasp when the murderer is revealed, but in all honesty, that’s not the reason to pick up Heat Wave. The simple truth is that from the dedication before the novel begins to the main character’s name (Jameson Rook), this book is written for Castle fans. There are a lot of nods to the series which is fitting since Castle is using his “research” at the NYPD to write this particular book. The most enjoyable experiences with Heat Wave are had when the reader maintains a mindset of Castle actually writing it, being the man behind the curtains, instead of some unnamed ghost writer. Snickering with the thought of Beckett’s reaction to a particular risqué chapter is only one instance. Bottom line, Heat Wave has the potential of appealing to a wide audience, yet its main focus is the fans, those who can match every character with their slightly different counterpart and catch all of the fan service aimed their way. It’s excellent for those reasons, 5 stars. *****

The Beast of Noor

The Beast of Noor Janet Lee Carey

The Beast of Noor reads like a fairy tale which seems only fitting since the overall plot is centered on an old legend in the world of Noor. The legend of, you guessed it, the Beast of Noor. Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say that it involves a curse on a certain family for the actions of an ancestor, actions which resulted in a monstrous dog, known as the Shriker, who now haunts the woods. Leave it to the protagonist, Miles Sheen, to make it his mission to destroy this demon, stop the ruthless killings, and redeem his family’s name in the process. The story is predictable enough once the reader finds out exactly how the Shriker came to be since there really is one sort of ending possible in books intended for the younger demographic. Despite this, it’s a charming book with a mild horror streak and notable character development even if it’s pretty straightforward development. The characters are interesting and likable enough…most of the time. There’s some whininess and somewhat irritating character choices, but it’s almost to be expected with these prepubescent heroes. The beginning seemed bogged down in exposition, but once it got that over with, clipped along at a steady pace. Carey creates a world of fairies and spells that, in all fairness, we have seen before. After all, it’s quite difficult to lay claim in originality in the world of fantasy what with the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling wandering about. Regardless, it’s a recommended alternative to the usual. It’s also for those who are looking for a darker novel, yet pretty light on the horror in comparison to the more visceral books in this genre. Bottom line, it’s solid, nicely done, and, at the very least, worth a look. 4 stars. ****