New Books for January 12

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The actual star : a novel

The actual star : a novel

Byrne, Monica, 1981- author
2021

David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas meets Octavia Butler's Earthseed series, as acclaimed author Monica Byrne (The Girl in the Road) spins a brilliant multigenerational saga spanning two thousand years, from the collapse of the ancient Maya to a far-future utopia on the brink of civil war. The Actual Star takes readers on a journey over thousands of years and six continents --collapsing three separate timelines into one cave in the Belizean jungle. An epic saga of three reincarnated souls, this novel demonstrates the entanglements of tradition and progress, sister and stranger, love and hate. The book jumps forward and backward in time among a pair of twins who ruled a Maya kingdom, a young American on a trip of self-discovery, and two dangerous charismatics in a conflict that will determine the fate of the few humans left on Earth after massive climate change. In each era, age-old questions about existence and belonging and identity converge deep underground. Because only in complete darkness can one truly see the stars.

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Agent running in the field

Agent running in the field

Le Carré, John, 1931- author
2021

Nat, a 47 year-old veteran of Britain's SIS, believes his years as an agent runner are over. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. Nat is a passionate badminton player, his regular Monday evening opponent is the introspective and solitary Ed. Ed hates Brexit, hates Trump and hates his job at some soulless media agency. And it is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Prue, Florence and Nat himself down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all.

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All that glitters

All that glitters

Steel, Danielle, author
2021

Nicole "Coco" Martin is destined to have it all. But tragedy strikes when Coco's beloved parents are killed in a terrorist attack while on vacation in France. Now devastated and alone, Coco must find a way to move forward and make her way in the world without the family she loved. Determined to forge her own path and make her parents proud, Coco pursues her dreams, dazzled by exciting opportunities that come her way. She will come to realize what matters, and how strong she truly is - and in the end, she will discover herself.

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Amira & Hamza : the war to save the worlds

Amira & Hamza : the war to save the worlds

Ahmed, Samira (Fiction writer), author.
2021

A genie informs twelve-year-old Amira and her younger brother Hamza that they are the chosen ones who must defeat a monstrous demon of Islamic folklore to save the Earth and a parallel dimension.

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Animal crossing : new horizons. Volume 1. Deserted island diary

Animal crossing : new horizons. Volume 1. Deserted island diary

Rumba, Kokonasu, author, illustrator
2021

The gag-filled adventures of four goofy villagers living among the Animal Crossing: New Horizons characters. Includes a bonus Animal Guide with game tips.

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Apples never fall : a novel

Apples never fall : a novel

Moriarty, Liane, author
2021

After fifty years of marriage, Stan and Joy Delaney are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy's door. She says she chose their house because it looked the friendliest. And since Savannah is bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend, the Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted. Later, everyone will wonder what exactly went on in that house after Savannah entered that night. Because now Joy is missing, no one knows where Savannah is, and the Delaneys are re-examining their family history with fresh, frightened eyes.

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The Baby-sitters Club. 10, Kristy and the snobs : a graphic novel

The Baby-sitters Club. 10, Kristy and the snobs : a graphic novel

Chau, Chan, author, illustrator
2021

Kristy's family moves to a new neighborhood where the kids make fun of Louie, Kristy's pet collie, who's going blind. The Baby-sitters are not going to let them get away with it.

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Believing : our thirty-year journey to end gender violence

Believing : our thirty-year journey to end gender violence

Hill, Anita, author.
2021

"From the woman who gave the landmark testimony against Clarence Thomas as a sexual menace, a new manifesto about the origins and course of gender violence in our society; a combination of memoir, personal accounts, law, and social analysis, and a powerful call to arms from one of our most prominent and poised survivors. In 1991, Anita Hill began something that's still unfinished work. The issues of gender violence, touching on sex, race, age, and power, are as urgent today as they were when she first testified. Believing is a story of America's three decades long reckoning with gender violence, one that offers insights into its roots, and paths to creating dialogue and substantive change. It is a call to action that offers guidance based on what this brave, committed fighter has learned from a lifetime of advocacy and her search for solutions to a problem that is still tearing America apart. We once thought gender-based violence--from casual harassment to rape and murder--was an individual problem that affected a few; we now know it's cultural and endemic, and happens to our acquaintances, colleagues, friends and family members, and it can be physical, emotional and verbal. Women of color experience sexual harassment at higher rates than White women. Street harassment is ubiquitous and can escalate to violence. Transgender and nonbinary people are particularly vulnerable. Anita Hill draws on her years as a teacher, legal scholar, and advocate, and on the experiences of the thousands of individuals who have told her their stories, to trace the pipeline of behavior that follows individuals from place to place: from home to school to work and back home. In measured, clear, blunt terms, she demonstrates the impact it has on every aspect of our lives, including our physical and mental wellbeing, housing stability, political participation, economy and community safety, and how our descriptive language undermines progress toward solutions. And she is uncompromising in her demands that our laws and our leaders must address the issue concretely and immediately."--Provided by publisher.

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Black girls must die exhausted

Black girls must die exhausted

Allen, Jayne, 1978- author
2021

After learning she might not be able to have children, thirty-three-year-old Tabitha Walker, a black woman planning to "have it all," watches her dreams dissolve and must rely on her two best friends to get through.

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Black hole chasers : the amazing true story of an astronomical breakthrough

Black hole chasers : the amazing true story of an astronomical breakthrough

Redding, Anna Crowley, author
2021

In Black Hole Chasers, award-winning investigative journalist Anna Crowley Redding presents the riveting true story of one of the most inspiring scientific breakthroughs of our lifetime--the Event Horizon Telescope team's reveal of the first image of a super massive black hole. In April 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope Team unveiled the first ever image of a super massive black hole. This inspiring scientific breakthrough took years of hard work, innovative thinking, and a level of global cooperation never seen before. The challenge was immense. The goal was impossible. They would need a telescope as big as the earth itself. The technology simply didn't exist. And yet, a multi-national team of scientists was able to show the world an image of something previously unseeable. Based off extensive research and hours interviews with many of the team's ground-breaking scientists, physicists, and mathematicians, Black Hole Chasers is a story of unique technological innovation and scientific breakthroughs, but more importantly, it's a story of human curiosity and triumph.

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Blink of an eye

Blink of an eye

Johansen, Iris, author
2021

Investigator Kendra Michaels, a formerly blind, modern-day Sherlock Holmes, must solve the abduction of a famous pop star before time runs out.

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The bones of ruin

The bones of ruin

Raughley, Sarah, author
2021

An African tightrope dancer in Victorian London, Iris is a strange sight for leering audiences always eager for the spectacle of colonial curiosity. But Iris also has a secret: she cannot die. She meets the dark and alluring Adam Temple, a member of a mysterious order called the Enlightenment Committee. Adam shares with her a terrifying revelation: the world is ending, and the Committee will decide who lives. To help them choose a leader for the upcoming apocalypse, the Committee is holding the Tournament of Freaks, a competition of vicious fighters with fantastical abilities. Adam wants Iris to be his champion.

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The bronzed beasts

The bronzed beasts

Chokshi, Roshani, author
2021

Returning to the dark and glamorous 19th century world of her New York Times instant bestseller, The Gilded Wolves, Roshani Chokshi dazzles us with the final riveting tale as full of mystery and danger as ever in The Bronzed Beasts. After Séverin's seeming betrayal, the crew is fractured. Armed with only a handful of hints, Enrique, Laila, Hypnos and Zofia must find their way through the snarled, haunted waterways of Venice, Italy to locate Séverin. Meanwhile, Séverin must balance the deranged whims of the Patriarch of the Fallen House and discover the location of a temple beneath a plague island where the Divine Lyre can be played and all that he desires will come to pass. With only ten days until Laila expires, the crew will face plague pits and deadly masquerades, unearthly songs and the shining steps of a temple whose powers might offer divinity itself...but at a price they may not be willing to pay.

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The burning : a novel

The burning : a novel

Kellerman, Jonathan, author
2021

A raging wildfire. A massive blackout. A wealthy man shot to death in his palatial hilltop home. For Clay Edison, it's all in a day's work. While working the murder scene, Clay is horrified to discover a link to his brother, Luke, who is fresh out of prison and struggling to stay on the straight and narrow. And now he's gone AWOL. As the race is on for Clay to find him before anyone else can, he is forced to reckon with his own suspicions, resentments, and loyalties. Is his brother a killer? Or could he be the victim in all of this, too?

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A calling for Charlie Barnes : a novel

A calling for Charlie Barnes : a novel

Ferris, Joshua, author
2021

Someone is telling the story of the life of Charlie Barnes, and it doesn't appear to be going well. Too often divorced, discontent with life's compromises and in a house he hates, this lifelong schemer and eternal romantic would like out of his present circumstances and into the American dream. But when the twin calamities of the Great Recession and a cancer scare come along to compound his troubles, his dreams dwindle further, and an infinite past full of forking paths quickly tapers to a black dot. Then, against all odds, something goes right for a change: Charlie is granted a second act. With help from his storyteller son, he surveys the facts of his life and finds his true calling where he least expects it--in a sacrifice that redounds with selflessness and love--at last becoming the man his son always knew he could be. A Calling for Charlie Barnes is a profound and tender portrait of a man whose desperate need to be loved is his downfall, and a brutally funny account of how that love is ultimately earned.

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Deer Santa

Deer Santa

Eliot, Hannah, author
2021

A rhyming lift-the-flap story depicts various animals of the forest composing their wish lists for Santa.

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Defy the night

Defy the night

Kemmerer, Brigid, author
2021

The kingdom of Kandala is recovering from a devastating plague but the cure is rare and expensive, so a girl hatches a plan to infiltrate the castle and bring the corrupt system crashing down.

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Denial : a novel

Denial : a novel

McLachlin, Beverley, 1943- author
2021

"Jilly Truitt has made a name for herself as one of the top criminal defense lawyers in the city. Where once she had to take just about any case to keep her firm afloat, now she has her pick--and she picks winners. So when Joseph Quentin asks her to defend his wife, who has been charged with murdering her own mother in what the media are calling a mercy killing, every instinct tells Jilly to say no. Word on the street is that Vera Quentin is in denial, refusing to admit to the crime and take a lenient plea deal. Quentin is a lawyer's lawyer, known as the Fixer in legal circles, and if he can't help his wife, who can? Against her better judgment, Jilly meets with Vera and reluctantly agrees to take on her case. Call it intuition, call it sympathy, but something about Vera makes Jilly believe she's telling the truth. Now, she has to prove that in the courtroom against her former mentor turned opponent, prosecutor Cy Kenge--a man who has no qualms about bending the rules. As the trial approaches, Jilly scrambles to find a crack in the case and stumbles across a dark truth hanging over the Quentin family. But is it enough to prove Vera's innocence? Or is Jilly in denial herself? Thrumming with tension, Denial is a riveting thriller about the lengths we will go to for the ones we love and the truths we hold dear."-- Provided by publisher.

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The dressmakers of Auschwitz : the true story of the women who sewed to survive

The dressmakers of Auschwitz : the true story of the women who sewed to survive

Adlington, Lucy, 1970- author
2021

At the height of the Holocaust twenty-five young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp were selected to design, cut, and sew beautiful fashions for elite Nazi women in a dedicated salon. It was work that they hoped would spare them from the gas chambers. Weaving the dressmakers' remarkable experiences within the context of Nazi policies for plunder and exploitation, historian Lucy Adlington exposes the greed, cruelty, and hypocrisy of the Third Reich and offers a fresh look at a little-known chapter of World War II and the Holocaust.

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The law of innocence

The law of innocence

Connelly, Michael, 1956-, author
2021

Defense attorney Mickey Haller is pulled over by police, who find the body of a client in the trunk of his Lincoln. Haller is charged with murder and can't make the exorbitant $5 million bail slapped on him by a vindictive judge. Mickey elects to defend himself and must strategize and build his defense from his jail cell in the Twin Towers Correctional Center in downtown Los Angeles, all the while looking over his shoulder, as an officer of the court he is an instant target. Mickey knows he's been framed. Now, with the help of his trusted team, he has to figure out who has plotted to destroy his life and why. Then he has to go before a judge and jury and prove his innocence.

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A matter of life and death

A matter of life and death

Margolin, Phillip, author
2021

Joe Lattimore, homeless and trying desperately to provide for his young family, agrees to fight in a no-holds-barred illegal bout, only to have his opponent die. Lattimore now finds himself at the mercy of the fight's organizers who blackmail him into burglarizing a house. However, when he breaks in, he finds a murdered woman on the floor and the police have received an anonymous tip naming him the murderer. Robin Lockwood agrees to take on his defense, but everything about the case is too easy, too pat, and Lockwood is convinced that her client has been framed.

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Robert B. Parker's Someone to watch over me

Robert B. Parker's Someone to watch over me

Atkins, Ace, author
2021

Spenser and his new apprentice trace the murder of a young woman to an international crime ring that has been operating with impunity because of the powerful and highly connected billionaire at its helm. Mattie's first big case involves a fifteen-year-old girl assaulted by a much older man at one of Boston's most prestigious private clubs. But like her mentor and boss, Mattie has a knack for asking the right questions of the wrong people. Soon Spenser and Mattie find ties between the exploitation of dozens of other girls from working class families to an eccentric billionaire and his sadistic henchwoman with a mansion on Commonwealth Avenue. The mystery man's wealth, power and connections extend well beyond Massachusetts - maybe even beyond the United States.

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Serpentine

Serpentine

Kellerman, Jonathan, author
2021

Milo Sturgis' independence has been compromised as never before, as the department pressures him to cater to the demands of a mogul: a hard-to-fathom, megarich young woman who is obsessed with reopening the coldest of cases--the decades-old death of the mother she never knew. The facts describe a likely loser: a mysterious woman found with a bullet in her head in a torched Cadillac that has overturned on infamously treacherous Mulholland Drive. No physical evidence, no witnesses, no apparent motive. And a slew of detectives have already worked the case and failed. But as Delaware and Sturgis begin digging, the mist begins to lift. Too many coincidences. Facts turn out to be anything but. And as they soon discover, very real threats lurking in the present.

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The silent wife

The silent wife

Slaughter, Karin, 1971- author
2021

Atlanta, Georgia. Present day. A young woman is brutally attacked and left for dead. A chance assignment takes FBI investigator Will Trent to the state penitentiary, and to a prisoner who says the attack looks identical to the one he was convicted for ten years earlier but always insisted that he was innocent, and now he’s sure he was framed. As Will digs into both cases it becomes clear that he must solve the original case in order to find answers. When the past and present collide, everything Will values is at stake.

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Star Wars. Guardians of the Whills : the manga

Star Wars. Guardians of the Whills : the manga

Tsuei, Jon, adapter
2021

"Presiding over the Kyber Temple on Jedha, the Guardians of the Whills, Baze Malbus and Chirrut Îmwe, had hoped to maintain a peaceful balance despite the growing presence of the Empire in their Holy City. They struggle to maintain their beliefs as stormtroopers threaten to take over, when Saw Gerrera appears offering them a chance to help Jedha. How far are Baze and Chirrut willing to compromise for peace, or will Saw's plan be too dangerous to risk?"--Amazon.

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