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Moonshot

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$17.99
ISBN-13: 9781416950462
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books, 4/2009
A gorgeous, poetic story about the monumental space event that was the flight of Apollo 11. From preparing the shuttle for liftoff to the moon landing itself, Floca describes the wonder and anticipation of the mission through well-chosen details and captivating illustrations. Engaging for all ages! One of my favorite space-science books for kids. ~ Reviewed by Aubrey Restifo

Code Name Verity

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Code Name Verity (Paperback)

$9.99
ISBN-13: 9781423152880
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Disney-Hyperion, 5/2013
Two best friends crash-land their jet while on a top-secret mission in Nazi-occupied France: Maddie, the pilot, is presumed dead; Julie, the foul-mouthed wireless operator-turned-spy, is taken prisoner. Their story is told through Julie's 'diary,' a forced confession intended to reveal British war secrets--yet the testimony becomes more of a biography of her best friend than a desperate tell-all leading up to her execution. Intelligent, emotional, and harrowing, this is a story about how love, adrenaline, and fierce loyalty can conquer the most extreme fears while under impossible stress. Unforgettable! ~ Reviewed by Aubrey Restifo

Those Angry Days

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$30.00
ISBN-13: 9781400069743
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Random House, 3/2013
In page-turning style (reminiscent of her Citizens of London) Lynne Olson captures the ferocity, the passion, and the no-holds-barred nature of the white hot debate between American isolationists vs. interventionists in the "war before the war". Unputdownable. ~ Reviewed by Bill Lewis

The Girls of Atomic City

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$27.00
ISBN-13: 9781451617528
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Touchstone, 3/2013
For tens of thousands of women who came to a brand-new, totally secret war production plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the experience was unlike anything they could have imagined...because nothing like it in human history had ever been done before. Rosie the Riveter to the nth degree. ~ Reviewed by Bill Lewis

Exorcising the past

There is a self-congratulatory undercurrent that wafts through Run, Brother, Run that would be off-putting in most books but, when you finish this one, you will probably grant that author David Berg has earned the right to parcel out some credit upon himself. God knows, the odds were mostly against him right from the start.There are no completely guiltless people in this courageous disinterment of a terrible personal event that most people would bury and hope to be able to forget.

Mr. Berg is the younger son of Nathan Berg, a human pile driver whose volatile temperament expanded proportionately with his business setbacks -- and his setbacks were considerable and frequent. Nathan took out his frustrations on his entire family, but David’s older brother, Alan, was the preferred target of his father’s wrath. Nathan’s dream had been to become a doctor, but, like most everything else in his life, it didn’t work out. The disappointment hovered over Berg; a merciless reminder that, no matter what else he accomplished, in his own mind it would be second best.

Alan, who had alienated himself further from his father by not becoming a doctor, offered David a kind of firewall, protecting him from Nathan’s emotional browbeating. It seemed for a while that Nathan had finally found the promise of some financial security after he and Alan opened an upholstery business in Houston. A fire ended all that. There was no insurance and the Bergs were back on square one, but they had acquired a flair for resilience -- of sorts.

The relationship between Nathan and Alan continued to be explosive. Alan’s fourth wife, Harriet, had a stabilizing influence on her new husband’s chaotic life. The couple had two sons and all the attendant financial responsibilities that come with children. Alan began drifting back into bad habits. He bet large sums on sporting events and couldn’t always pay up quickly when he lost. Then one day, he just never came home.

Much of the book is concerned with Nathan’s desperate attempts to discover what became of his son. The man who continually fought with Alan, belittling and humiliating him, would spend thousands of dollars tracking down every lead, no matter how far-fetched and tenuous, only to arrive at a destination that Alan’s family very likely knew that it was going to reach from the very start of their nightmare.

I am sure writing Run, Brother, Run provided Mr. Berg with a catharsis and it provides a gripping story for the reader. I suspect a lot of attention, however, will focus on the fact that the central villain of the tale is the father of actor Woody Harrelson. It would be difficult to find any redeeming qualities in Charles “Chuck” Harrelson, even if his famous son had the resources to hire the same lawyer who was so instrumental in helping O.J. Simpson beat the hangman. But, aside from the Hollywood connection, there is nothing particularly interesting about Harrelson. He’s a garden variety thug whose kid happened to be famous. (Oliver Stone told Woody to “act like your father” when they were filming Natural Born Killers.)

The most deviously fascinating character in a book that is overflowing with them is the lawyer Charles Harrelson hired to defend him at the trial for Alan Berg’s murder. Percy Forman was one of those legendarily flamboyant lawyers who could better serve justice by being ficticious. He once hired a van to clean out a client’s home of its valuables as payment for his “services,” a maneuver that even outraged a judge in Texas. Forman’s liberal interpretation of “win at any cost defense” is the most shocking aspect of the book.

David Berg is a lawyer as well as a writer, but that fact doesn’t preclude him from painting a very dim picture of the legal system in America. Run, Brother, Run may have had it’s origins in Mr. Berg’s anger and frustration, but this worthy attempt to place a human face on his flawed brother’s rocky life is also a jarring reminder that justice is awed by fame, easily manipulated by unscrupulous men, and -- are you ready for this revelation? -- corrupted by money.
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$26.00
ISBN-13: 9781476715636
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Scribner, 6/2013

Diamond in the Rough

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$16.99
ISBN-13: 9780061759291
Availability: Coming Soon - Available for Pre-Order Now
Published: William Morrow & Company, 7/2013
One of the best singer-songwriters of the last two decades tells her story in the aptly titled Diamond in the Rough. Colvin performed, toured, wrote and confronted many personal demons before getting her break with Columbia records at the age of 32 when she recorded her first album, Steady On. She was awarded a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album for that brilliant record. She talks candidly about where her songs come from, her childhood, her addictions and sobriety, and a great deal more in this witty and revealing memoir. ~ Reviewed by Stan Hynds

Stand Up That Mountain

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$18.00
ISBN-13: 9781451682649
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Scribner, 6/2013
If you love the Appalachian Mountains, the A.T., or true stories about conservation and fighting for what's right, READ IT. Riveting and beautifully written, Stand Up That Mountain is a book to fall in love with. ~ Reviewed by Stan Hynds

Must read list

There are so many books out there.  And, I, like you have a list of books I can’t wait to read. In no order, I’d like to share a few of them with you. Some have been patiently waiting for awhile, some have just out and some are future presentations!

First, book three of The Secrets of Wintercraft; Winterveil due in July of this year. Shadowcry and Blackwatch start Kate Winters adventures. Finding out that you can walk between the world of the living and the world of the dead has many dangers. Especially when even your friends want to use you for their own gains! (Ages 12 up).

We can follow that up with Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby by John Boyne, the author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.  Barnaby does not obey the law of gravity. From Brazil to New York, Canada to Ireland, and even space, he meets all sorts of different people, discovering he really is along the way. (Ages 10 up)

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne is a debut novel. Six high school kids, two eighth graders, and six little kids are trapped together in a chain superstore. Outside, disasters are tearing the world apart. Sky on Fire continues the adventures. (Ages 14 up).

And last, but not least My Big, Fat Zombie Goldfish by Mo O’Hara. Recommended to me by a strong, precocious 6 year old, she tells me this would be good for ages 8 to 10 who like Captain Underpants. She hasn’t quite finished it yet, but promises to give me a review of it soon! Until then, this is what the publisher has to say: In this hilarious debut novel, the first in an illustrated chapter book series, a budding evil scientist's experiment goes horribly right by turning the family's new goldfish Frankie into a Big Fat Zombie Goldfish! (I am sooo exited!) This is due "soon". So come to the store a preoreder a copy today!

You can find these, and other books to add to you must read list at the Northshire Bookstore! 

Judge a book by its cover. Right now.

I do it.  I do it all the time.  Show me a book cover and I'll tell you how likely I am to enjoy it.  I know "they" say it shouldn't be done, but I'm here to tell you "they" are wrong.  Here's why:

1. Publishers chose great covers:
Why? Because they've been at it and they know what they're doing.  For example, Vanessa Farquharson hated the cover of her book, Sleeping Naked is Green.  But I like it.  It's funny.  It represents the book well, which is also funny.   Writers write and publishers market.  So go marketing team, you sold me a book.  See, not all marketing is bad.

Political books often feature a photo of the author on the cover.  That's because publishers know that the readers who are going to pick that book up are doing it because they recognize the author and may want to read what they have to say.  Many of those authors may not have chosen to put themselves on the covers (or maybe they would.  Ugh, politicians).

Did you enjoy the movie?  Good thing the movie poster is on the front of the book to let you know that Blade Runner was based a book originally titled Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Or that Precious was based on the book Push.

2. Made just for you:
Publishers know their audience.  They know what age, gender, and interests they should target in their readers and will pick a cover that appeals to those people.  For example, when I look for a kids' book, I don't want anything that is too strongly male or female.  I like stories to be fantastical, but not strictly fantasy.  I also like things kind of creepy, but not scary.  No surprise that I picked up Gustav Gloom, The Girl who Circumnavigated, and also The Tell-Tale Start.  All of these books have gender neutral* covers and are a little mysterious-looking.  Loved them.  Harry Potter? Yep, you fit the bill.

I also dislike reading books about young love, lust, or anything in between.  It's a no-brainer that I won't be reading Sarah Dessen this summer.  All of her covers are marketed to a female, teen audience and have all kinds of hearts and frills on the covers.  I don't like violence either, so I won't be reading Department 19.  That doesn't mean these are bad covers (in fact, the covers are great), it just means they were not marketed to my interests.

That's just kid's books.  I can go on and on about adult books, because they are a little less obvious with the covers.  However, it's safe to say that if you are drawn to a cover, it's probably because you were meant to be. (Hello, impulse purchase of Farewell My Subaru, a book I highly recommend.)

Sometimes a book gets a new cover to appeal to a different audience.  Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books got new covers that appeal to a slightly younger audience than they did originally.  That makes sense because a YA reader could enjoy them just as much as a reader of adult fantasy.  Classic books often get  classy, old-timey covers, to show off their timelessness.  (How many editions of Jane Eyre do I own, just because I loved the covers? I'll never tell.)

3. Because you can:
You should pick up a book and be dazzled from the very start, meaning the cover.  You should be excited to open the book and get to reading.  Something about it should grab you and hold you.  A great cover is the first step to that.  Plus, you know best what looks prettiest in your home library.  I have a preference for yellow and orange books, myself.  No reason.  Just do.  Also, science books with purple covers.  Hardcovers with stripes on the spines make me happy I keep books in my bedroom.

*By gender neutral I mean that the book doesn't try to be a "boy book" or a "girl book."  You know, no fairies, guns, sports, or cleavage. Nothing that screams "I THINK GENDER IS IMPORTANT AND YOU HAVE TO BE A GIRL OR BOY TO LOVE THIS BOOK." It does not mean that there are no male or female characters on the cove
r.

Devil Said Bang

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$12.99
ISBN-13: 9780062197603
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Voyager, 6/2013

“Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim series is one of my favorite sets of fantasy books from the last few years.”
—John Scalzi, author of Red Shirts

“This bad-ass supernatural horror stuff is clearly the material he was born to write.”
—Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother

Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim—aka James Stark—is, quite simply, one of the most outrageous uber-anti-heroes ever to kick serious butt on this or any other world or dimension. In his previous three adventures—Sandman Slim...


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