The Butler: A Witness to History

Wil Haygood (Get this book)
A distinguished Washington Post journalist's account of the black White House butler who bore witness to eight presidential administrations. From his unique vantage point "in the hard shadow of power," Allen witnessed history unfurl before him. The book is brief, but the two sections and many images of Allen's quietly extraordinary life speak volumes about a nation struggling, and succeeding by degrees, to come to terms with an ignominious history of racial inequality. Poignant and powerful.--Kirkus

All the Summer Girls ( P.S. )

Meg Donohue (Get this book)
Donohue sounds an irresistible call to spread a blanket on the nearest beach with three best friends who reunite on the Jersey Shore to commiserate, imbibe, and confess the dark secrets that have haunted them since college. The girls' shared and private guilt predictably brings them closer, but Donohue gives the chick-lit buddy trope an appealing twist and a lot of depth, turning a familiar yarn of regret, trust, and loyalty into an elegant ode to late bloomers.--Publisher's Weekly

The Zero Footprint Baby: How to Save the Planet While Raising a Healthy Baby

Keya Chatterjee (Get this book)
In this helpful guide, Chatterjee mixes suggestions for raising a baby with a minimal carbon footprint with success stories from her child-rearing experience and that of her friends. The book covers issues including nesting, prenatal care and birth, baby gear, diapers, food, and broader issues such as appropriate family size and environmental activism. The one surprising omission is a discussion of stay-at-home parents. Still, the book should prove valuable to all parents who are concerned about reducing the environmental impact of raising children.--Publisher's Weekly

Visitation Street

Iva Pochoda (Get this book)

A mystery about a missing girl and the ghosts she leaves behind. One summer evening, teenagers Val and June float on a rubber raft out into the bay off Brooklyn's Red Hook section. Only Val returns, her near-dead body washed upon the shore. But Val can't seem to tell anyone what happened to them or why June disappeared without a trace. Everyone in the story deserves a measure of sympathy, from the girls on the raft to the shoplifting teenager to the pathetic uncle who won't tell anyone anything for free. Red Hook itself feels like a character--hard-worn, isolated from the rest of New York, left behind and forgotten. A terrific story in the vein of Dennis Lehane's fiction.--Kirkus

Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health

Jo Robinson (Get this book)
In today's supermarkets, farmer's markets and backyard gardens, one can find hundreds of varieties of vegetables and fruits grown for their high sweet, starch and fat contents and lack of bitterness. According to the extensive research compiled by Jo Robinson in Eating on the Wild Side, though, these varieties--distant relatives of the wild plants our hunter-gatherer ancestors forged for--are often less nutritious than those "bitter, tough, thick-skinned and seedy" wild fruits and vegetables we used to eat. Many modern foods lack high levels of the phytonutrients that aid our ability to fight off diseases (including cancer and diabetes). Robinson's solution is to provide detailed information on more than 27 vegetables and two dozen fruits so consumers know exactly which type of plant packs the most nutrient-rich wallop. This entertaining and informative guidebook shows us why it's true--and which types are the best to add to our diet.--Shelf Awareness

The Outcast

Jolina Petersheim (Get this book)
This contemporary reworking of The Scarlet Letter centers on the struggles, shame, sin, and strength of Rachel Stoltzfus. Born into an Old Order Mennonite community in Pennsylvania, Rachel moves to the Copper Creek community in Tennessee to help her sister Leah and brother-in-law Tobias with their new baby boy. As Rachel makes an effort to rise above her circumstances and their complications, including her child's health issues, Petersheim's emotional story leaves readers intrigued by the purity of Rachel's strong will, resilience, and loyalty.--Publisher's Weekly

Act of Congress: How America's Essential Institution Works, and How It Doesn't

Robert Kaiser (Get this book)
At the height of the financial crisis of 2008, public distrust of Congress was nearly as great as its distrust of the Wall Street bankers behind the collapse. In this riveting account, Kaiser details the 15-day roller-coaster drama behind the law that rescued the banking system and instituted new safeguards. Beyond the major players, Kaiser also focuses on the staffs, often the real brains behind legislation because congressmen lack expertise in or understanding of the complex issues about which they legislate. Beyond the financial crisis, Kaiser offers an insightful primer on how laws are made, from conception to passage, as well as the characters and culture of the U.S. Congress, observed from an astonishing perspective most citizens never see.--Booklist

Eye for an Eye

Ben Coes (Get this book)
Special Forces operative Dewey Andreas is out for vengeance after a botched assassination attempt kills the woman he loves in the latest from Coes. While on vacation with his fiancee, U.S. National Security Advisor Jessica Tanzer, in Argentina, Dewey is targeted by a Chinese hit squad. He escapes the assassin's bullet only to have it find his wife-to-be instead. In response, Dewey uses his training as a skilled Delta operator to hunt down the man behind the failed hit, China's minister of state security. At a time when America's exceptionalism is hotly contested, this is a fine example of an exceptional American hero story.--Kirkus

Gridlock

Senator Byron L. Dorgan, David Hagberg (Get this book)
The nation's energy grid remains a terrorist target in Dorgan and Hagberg's action-packed follow-up to 2012's Blowout. Several computer probes aimed at our electrical power system indicate that a major strike is on the way. The Iranian and Venezuelan secret services have hired Barend Dekker, a genius hacker operating out of Holland, to insert a Russian virus into the American grid. Former Senator Dorgan's energy policy expertise and bestseller Hagberg's thriller-writing know-how bode well for a long series.--Publisher's Weekly

College (Un)Bound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students

Jeff Selingo (Get this book)
Part cultural critique, part trend-spotting, and part advice for students and parents navigating a flawed system, this analysis paints an unflattering picture of middle-tier American colleges, while optimistically highlighting forward-thinking educational models. For students deliberately choosing a traditional four-year residential college, Selingo recommends that they study topics that most engage their interests, seek passionate mentors, and learn through doing, or even failing. He delivers a powerful message to colleges themselves: the system is broken, and both their success as institutions and the future success of our workforce depends on their willingness to incorporate unbundled, lower-cost systems that allow students to customize their education--Publisher's Weekly

A Treacherous Paradise

Henning Mankel, Laurie Elmore Thompson (Get this book)
The chronicler of Kurt Wallander sets his sights on something dramatically different: the African odyssey of a young turn-of-the-century Swedish woman that's based on facts--just not very many facts. Five years after her lumberjack father's death in 1899, Hanna Renstrom's mother, Elin, sends the 18-year-old off to businessman Jonathan Forsman's home in coastal Sundsvall, where the chances of survival look brighter. Hanna's adventures, based on elliptical hints from the journal of a real-life Swedish madam in 1905 Mozambique, make a story as magical as a fairy tale and just about as brutal too--Kirkus

Mind over medicine : scientific proof you can heal yourself

Lissa Rankin, M.D. (Get this book)
Recent diatribes against the forthcoming DSM-5 have called for medical professionals to put down the book from time to time and look patients in the eye. Rankin takes it one step further and tells folks to look inside to heal themselves, both mentally and physically. She does not dismiss the benefits of modern medicine; rather, she urges patients and health care providers to seek mind and body solutions in order to secure the best care possible. Rankin's insightful and compassionate treatise may not convince everyone, but it's a refreshing alternative to a handful of pills--Publisher's Weekly

The Light in the Ruins

Chris Bohjalian (Get this book)
Best-selling and versatile novelist Bohjalian returns to crime fiction in his fifteenth novel. In Florence in 1955, Francesca Rosatistill beautiful and aloof, though grieving for her husband and childrenis murdered, her heart wrenched from her body. A serial killer is at work, preying on the Rosati family. Mastering matters subtle and grotesque, Bohjalian combines intricate plotting and bewitching sensuality with historical insight and a profound sense of place to create an exceptional work of suspense rooted in the tragic aberrations of war.--Booklist

The Society of Timid Souls: Or, How to Be Brave

Polly Morland (Get this book)
British documentary filmmaker Morland takes readers on an expansive philosophical inquiry into the nuanced qualities of timidity and courage. With a mix of cheerful camaraderie and robust curiosity, she reports on individuals in widely diverging circumstances that try their courage or cowardice. Occasionally, it seems as if she is comparing apples and oranges, but generally Morland steers deftly through touchy areas like the role of non-violent yet courageous actions. Her well-chosen examples are thought-provoking, and her refusal to offer a pat answer opens dialogue that will continue long after the book ends, making it a great choice for book clubs and classrooms.--Publisher's Weekly

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Karen Joy Fowler (Get this book)
What is the boundary between human and animal beings and what happens when that boundary is blurred are two of many questions raised in Fowler's provocative sixth novel (The Jane Austen Book Club, 2004, etc.), the narration of a young woman grieving over her lost sister, who happens to be a chimpanzee. Rosemary recounts her family history at first haltingly and then with increasingly articulate passion. Readers will forgive Fowler's occasional didacticism about animal experimentation since Rosemary's voice--vulnerable, angry, shockingly honest--is so compelling and the cast of characters, including Fern, irresistible. A fantastic novel: technically and intellectually complex, while emotionally gripping.--Kirkus

The Lost Whale: The True Story of an Orca Named Luna

Michael Parfit, Suzanne Chisholm (Get this book)
Six years in the life of a young killer whale that lost contact with his family yet managed to survive on his own. Parfit and Chisholm chronicle the life of Luna, an orca first sighted swimming with his mother in 1999. A tender, nail-biting account of an orca's fate as the Canadian Fisheries and Oceans Department considered trapping and sending him to captivity--Kirkus

Bombshell

Catherine Coulter (Get this book)
In bestseller Coulter's captivating 17th FBI novel, FBI agent Griffin Hammersmith learns on his way to a new assignment in Washington, D.C., that an intruder has attacked his sister, Delsey, in her Maestro, Va., home. With the assistance of local law enforcement and the DEA, Griffin discovers that his sister was the target of a sinister drug ring, which may be connected to a visiting professor at the prestigious music school Delsey attends. Coulter expertly jacks up the suspense as she alternates between the two plot lines.--Publisher's Weekly

The Passage to Europe: How a Continent Became a Union

Luuk van Middelaar, Liz Waters (Get this book)
Authoritative historical overview of the European Union by a policy adviser and speechwriter for the current president of the European Council. Dutch political philosopher van Middelaar offers an erudite alternative to the persistent drumbeat about the coming, market-driven disintegration of the European Union. He provides a clear account of the origin of the EU, the political and philosophical issues and conflicts that shaped its evolution, and the turning points in its development. An intriguing presentation of views seldom reported so readably and in such depth, offering a fresh new perspective to American readers.--Kirkus

Sisterland : a novel

Curtis Sittenfeld (Get this book)
Twin sisters Kate Tucker and Violet Schramm are at the heart of Sittenfeld's latest novel, which opens with a modest earthquake striking St. Louis. In the aftermath, Violet goes on television predicting that a much larger quake will hit the area, much to her sister's horror. Sittenfeld alternates between the present and the past, revealing the Schramm sisters' fraught childhood and complex relationship. A late-in-the-game twist makes the final pages fly, but the real strength of this moving story is Sittenfeld's nuanced examination of the strength of familial bonds, whether they are between sisters or spouses.--Booklist

Roosevelt's Centurions: FDR and the Commanders He Led to Victory in World War II

Joseph E. Persico (Get this book)
Whatever his flaws, Franklin Roosevelt had an eye for talent, according to this sweeping, top-down account of 1939-45 from the point of view of FDR, his cabinet and his leading generals and admirals. He recounts accepted blunders but remains neutral on persistent controversies--should we have dropped the atom bomb? Did the strategic bombing of Germany shorten the war?--merely recording opinions on both sides. A fine, straightforward politics-and-great-men history.--Kirkus

Unseen

Karin Slaughter (Get this book)

Bestseller Slaughter's tense and densely plotted thriller, the fifth to merge her Atlanta-based characters with those in Georgia's fictional Grant County, focuses on stubborn Lena Adams, a Macon police detective and the woman that Dr. Sara Linton the girlfriend of Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Will Trent blames for her husband Jeffrey's murder years earlier. The twisted plot and shocking reveals remind readers why Slaughter remains a dominant voice in crime fiction.

Rethinking Money: How New Currencies Turn Scarcity Into Prosperity

Bernard Lietaer, Jacqui Dunne, John Perkins (Get this book)
Among the many misconceptions people have about money is that a finite amount is circulating in economies, loan creation is always associated with debt creation, bank profit is dependent on interest payments, and saving money and accumulating wealth are beneficial goals. Here Dunne and Lietaer turn these assumptions upside down by presenting current and historic evidence of alternative monetary systems successfully implemented worldwide. A must-read for community leaders, planners, policymakers, human resource, and other business professionals who are interested in learning about the creation and sustainability of innovative monetary systems.--Library Journal

Close Knit Killer (A Knitting Mystery)

Maggie Sefton (Get this book)
Revenge provides the theme for Edgar-finalist Sefton's enjoyable 11th knitting mystery featuring Fort Connor, Colo., accountant Kelly Flynn. Twelve years before, investment adviser Jared Rizzoli ran a Ponzi scheme that defrauded many Fort Connor residents, some of whom lost more than just money. Rizzoli went to prison for his crimes, but now he's back, unrepentant and unwelcome. While the ending is given away a little too early, series fans will delight in the side action of the regular cast of characters and be on the edge of their seats with a cliffhanger ending--Publishers Weekly

How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region

Joe Studwell (Get this book)
China Economic Quarterly founder Studwell delivers a sometimes-contrarian, sometimes-counterintuitive look at the fortunes of Asia's economies, for better or worse. One of those success stories is Taiwan, which benefits from a tropical climate and the abundant rain and heat that come with it, making the island nation a vast garden as compared to much of neighboring mainland China.  By contrast, tropical Philippines is hampered by a land tenure system that concentrates ownership in a few hands, notably an "estranged first cousin" of Corazon Aquino, who had been a former crony of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.The author also examines all of the lessons learned from throughout Asia in the light of how China has fared. A solid blend of the descriptive and the prescriptive, with plenty of lessons that will be of interest to Asia hands, investors and policymakers.--Kirkus

Lexicon

Max Barry (Get this book)
Modern-day sorcerers fight a war of words in this intensely analytical yet bombastic thriller. Barry is usually trying to be the funny guy in the world of postmodern satire, with arrows keenly aimed at corporate greed and how to make it in advertising. Apparently, our Australian comrade has changed his mind, racing up alongside the likes of Neal Stephenson with this smart, compelling, action-packed thriller about the power of words. In a deft narrative move, Barry parallels two distinct storylines before bringing them together with jaw-dropping surprises. An up-all-night thriller for freaks and geeks who want to see their wizards all grown up in the real world and armed to the teeth in a bloody story.--Kirkus

The Beautiful Edible Garden: Design a Stylish Outdoor Space Using Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs

Leslie Bennett, Stefani Bittner, David Fenton, Jill Rizzo. (Get this book)
Bennett and Bittner specialize in blending herbs and edibles with ornamentals in limited yard space with an eye toward sophisticated design. Aided by 200 color photos by David Fenton and Jill Rizzo, the authors, who live in California (and it shows in plant selection), offer guided steps and insights for putting together an edible garden that sings with beauty. Best first to read it carefully, front to back. Then take it in hand, grab a shovel or spade, and get into the dirt, which, if directions are followed, is destined to become your canvas, your masterpiece, and your dinner.--Publisher's Weekly