Thursday, November 13, 2014

Books In For Review

Here's a look at some of the books that have just arrived for review.  Check them out!





Little Miss Muffitt: Guardian of My Heart: A Tribute to All Those Special Dogs Who Capture Our Hearts and Stay Forever by Rose Miller "Lets move to a farm and raise horses." Those words uttered by four-year-old Rose forewarned her parents who were happy city dwellers that she was an "animal person." But by the time she was eight, the family did move to a Pennsylvania farm where a multitude of animals wandered through her life, but no dogs. When she married, the family began their adventure with canines of many breeds, some purebred puppies, some fostered, some adopted and the loyal hard working K9s who were partners with Rose's daughter and sonin-law on the local police department. Loving dogs means losing them as they "just do not live long enough" but these stories of devoted, and some not so devoted, canines will warm your heart and give chuckles as well as some tears. Several Dobermans were family favorites. Lady Blue, a Giant Schnauzer, was a challenge. Muffitt, the Miniature Schnauzer, who was the love of Rose's life lived with the family for nearly seventeen years, a satisfactory time in dog-life, but losing a devoted companion who was with one that long was extremely traumatic. Grief stricken for months, one day she finds herself in local pet store that allows foster animal meetings with potential adopters. There she discovers an older Miniature Schnauzer, Maggie, and feeling sure that Muffitt guided her there, adopts the rescued puppy-mill mother. This story is a tribute to Little Miss Muffitt and all the other dogs in people's lives that fill that very special need and place in their hearts.  

Natalie's Art: A Frank Renzi Novel (Volume 5) by Susan Fleet In 1990 two robbers stole paintings worth $500 million from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Twenty years later, a ruthless man plans to steal several more. He forces Natalie to help him, but after the heist he intends to kill her. Not only that, NOPD Detective Frank Renzi is hot on her trail. Will Natalie escape? Don't miss the explosive showdown between Frank and Natalie.  

The Reluctant Psychic by Suzan Saxman We all, as children, had our imaginary friends and monsters in the closet. But for Suzan Saxman, those friends and monsters didn’t go away—and they weren’t imaginary. From an early age, Suzan knew instinctively that she had to hide her true self. She couldn’t talk about the specters who haunted her, waking and dreaming. In bed with a childhood fever, winged beings guarded her; bullied and friendless at school, she ate lunch silently under the steps of St. Theresa’s with the ghost of a nun; paralyzed with fear, she woke each night to see a man with no eyes, watching her; and she kept watch at the window, every day, while her real father was at work and Steve, her other father, was with her mother. It was the 1960s in suburban Staten Island and she tried to hide it all—to silence the spirits, ghosts and her own developing abilities to tap into people’s futures. She tried to be a daughter her mother could love. Now, with Perdita Finn, Suzan tells the story of her journey in The Reluctant Psychic, and tries to make sense of her mother’s own personal buried secrets that were never acknowledged. She tells of the joy and terror in seeing things others couldn’t and understanding what no one else expected—and the loneliness and sadness of possessing a tremendous gift. Through powerful readings of others’ destinies interwoven with compelling narrative, a reluctant psychic emerges into the light.  

Murder at the Book Group by Maggie King Hazel Rose never dreamed that the murder mystery book group she and her friend Carlene started would stage a real murder. Nevertheless, the normally composed Carlene is unusually angry and rattled one night during a book group discussion and dies after drinking cyanide-spiked tea. Despite a suicide note, Hazel is skeptical; Carlene never seemed suicidal—she was busy making plans for her future. Incidentally, Carlene was married to Hazel’s ex-husband, and Hazel has always suspected there might be something more to her past than she let on. How much does anyone really know about Carlene Arness? And did she die by her own hand or someone else’s? Hazel begins a search for the truth that produces no shortage of motives, as she unearths the past that Carlene took great pains to hide. And most of those motives belong to the members of her very own book group... Featuring memorable characters and a wicked sense of humor, Murder at the Book Group shows the darker side of a book club where reading isn’t about pleasure—it’s about payback.  

The Winter Sea by Di Morrissey History has all but forgotten...In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown. Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write. But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth-the ultimate betrayal-that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her...  

Another Night, Another Day by Sarah Rayner Three people, each crying out for help. There’s Karen, about to lose her father; Abby, whose son has autism and needs constant care, and Michael, a family man on the verge of bankruptcy. As each sinks under the strain, they’re brought together at Moreland’s Clinic. Here, behind closed doors, they reveal their deepest secrets, confront and console one another, and share plenty of laughs. But how will they cope when a new crisis strikes? From the international bestselling author, Sarah Rayner, Another Night, Another Day is the emotional story of a group of strangers who come together to heal, creating lifelong friendships along the way.  

Mr. Samuel's Penny by Treva Hall Melvin It's 1972 and fourteen-year-old New Yorker Elizabeth Landers is sent to the sleepy town of Ahoskie, North Carolina to spend the summer with relatives. Her expectation of boredom is quickly dispelled when police sirens and flashing lights draw her to a horrible scene at the Danbury Bridge. Mr. Samuel, owner of Samuel's Lumber Yard, has driven his car off the bridge and into the river, drowning himself and his daughter. The medical examiner thinks it's an accident, but the Sheriff finds fresh bullet holes on the bridge right where the skid marks are. Curiously, Mr. Samuel died clutching a unique 1909 wheat penny --a penny that is then stolen from the Sheriff's office. Lizbeth witnesses Miss Violet's grief upon learning that her husband and child are dead, and decides she will help by finding the penny. Her search involves Lizbeth in the lives of many Ahoskie residents. Like the owner of the grocery store, mean old Mr. Jake, who --as all the kids in Ahoskie know --hates black folks. Plenty of pennies in his till. Then there is Ms. Melanie Neely, otherwise known as “Ms. McMeanie,” who thinks the lumber yard should belong to her. And Mr. Samuel’s handsome brother Ben, who struggles to keep the business afloat after his more clever brother’s death. Lizbeth searches through the collection plates at church and in the coin jars of crazy old Aunt Ode, a strange old woman missing one eye and most of her teeth, who keeps a flask in her apron pocket and a secret in her soul.  

Latke the Lucky Dog by Ellen Fischer Rescued from an animal shelter on the first night of Hanukkah, Latke the puppy joins the family just in time for the celebrations. Although he has trouble learning the house rules, he is one Lucky Dog!  

Stork's Landing by Tami Lehman-Wilzig When a migrating stork gets tangled in a net in the fish ponds on Maya's kibbutz, Maya wonders what to do. Can she and her father find a way to nurse it back to health and send it back into the wild? Set in Israel, one of the bird capitals of the world with the highest number of migrating birds anywhere, this story brings the beauty of nature in Israel to life and highlights an unusual part of Israeli life the kibbutz.  

Sammy spider's First Mitzvah by Sylvia Rouss Sammy Spider is back in his fifteenth adventure story, learning about Jewish holidays and values with his buddy Josh Shapiro. In this story, when Josh gets a cold, his friend Moti delivers some chicken soup to him, and Sammy Spider learns about the mitzvah of visiting the sick. You’ll also learn the Hebrew word for “Gesundheit!”

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