Tears of Pearl

by Tasha Alexander. Lady Emily and Colin Hargreaves are on their honeymoon tour, headed to Constantinople via the Orient Express. On the train, they assist Sir Richard St. Clare after he falls ill at dinner. In appreciation of their help, Sir Richard invites the couple to attend an opera at the sultan's palace. As guests are leaving, the body of a harem girl is found. She's identified as Sir Richard's missing daughter, who was kidnapped by bandits over 20 years ago. Emily is determined to exhibit her sleuthing abilities and discover the truth, but is it worth the personal price she'll pay? Because this is the fourth book in Alexander's Victorian series (after A Fatal Waltz), characters have been well established, but their relationships and inner conflicts continue to develop in interesting ways. Curious facts about the Ottoman Empire, comparisons of women's independence there and in England, and vivid descriptions of locations and objects add that little something extra. Verdict The strong female lead and historically accurate details will please readers of Anne Perry, Laurie R. King, and Deanna Raybourn seeking a new fan-favorite author. (Check catalog)

Parallel play : growing up with undiagnosed Asperger's

by Tim Page. At the age of 45, Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic and writer Page learned that he had Asperger's syndrome. The diagnosis explained his lifelong struggle to fit in with others, the parallel play that he engaged in as a child, existing alongside others but never with them. Page watched with envy as his younger sister and brother came into the world, merged into the family, and found a place for themselves in both while he continued to founder. In school, he was absolutely no good at subjects that didn't interest him. Music was a saving grace, regimented yet soaringly creative. Old movies were also an obsession, inspiring him to try his hand at writing and directing silent films cast by his siblings and neighborhood children. His difficulty in making friends heightened the pain of adolescence, but he was pulled into the human race by Emily Post's etiquette lessons, which helped him decipher the mysteries of social conventions. Repulsed by the human touch, Page admits that lovemaking was very mechanical, well into adulthood. In adolescence, he dropped out of school, considered suicide, and dabbled in drugs, including LSD, which produced nightmarish hallucinations on what was already a delicate and disordered psyche. Page eventually found an esteemed career that he thinks might have been enhanced not debilitated by his condition. This highly introspective memoir includes photographs and drawings that evoke a life of struggle and triumph. --Booklist. (Check Catalog)

Say you're one of them

by Uwem Akpan. Nigerian-born Jesuit priest Akpan transports the reader into gritty scenes of chaos and fear in his rich debut collection of five long stories set in war-torn Africa. "An Ex-mas Feast" tells the heartbreaking story of eight-year-old Jigana, a Kenyan boy whose 12-year-old sister, Maisha, works as a prostitute to support her family. Jigana's mother quells the children's hunger by having them sniff glue while they wait for Maisha to earn enough to bring home a holiday meal. In "Luxurious Hearses," Jubril, a teenage Muslim, flees the violence in northern Nigeria. Attacked by his own Muslim neighbors, his only way out is on a bus transporting Christians to the south. In "Fattening for Gabon," 10-year-old Kotchikpa and his younger sister are sent by their sick parents to live with their uncle, Fofo Kpee, who in turn explains to the children that they are going to live with their prosperous "godparents," who, as Kotchikpa pieces together, are actually human traffickers. Akpan's prose is beautiful and his stories are insightful and revealing, made even more harrowing because all the horror--and there is much--is seen through the eyes of children. --Publisher's Weekly. (Check Catalog)

The American Civil War : a military history

by John Keegan. Award-winning British war historian Keegan brings his enormous talents for understanding the "face of battle" and the shape of war to what he calls "one of the most mysterious great wars of history." The American Civil War, to Keegan, was in many ways unique, especially because of the sustained intensity of combat, the importance of infantry and relative insignificance of artillery and cavalry in deciding battles, the voluntarism of the soldiers and their persistent willingness to fight, the complications of geography and topography, and the inability of either side to deliver a decisive military victory. Keegan follows such writers as T. Harry Williams and James McPherson in assessing generalship, and he offers little new about the place of the home fronts and politics in defining and sustaining the war effort, but he moves confidently across military terrain. VERDICT His emphasis on the role of military training, geography, the importance of entrenchments, the use of firepower and infantry tactics, and the technology of war gives Keegan's book a primary place in the annals of modern warfare. With only a few missteps, Keegan provides the single best one-volume assessment of the military character and conduct of America's ordeal by fire. In doing so, he shows why war was so terrible but also, in this case, so necessary. Highly recommended --Library Journal (Check catalog)

The vintage caper

by Peter Mayle. Mayle uncorks a winning wine caper in the tradition of To Catch a Thief. When a hot-shot Hollywood lawyer's most treasured and expensive wines are stolen, his insurance company calls in Sam Levitt, a gourmand and lawyer-of-all-trades with a varied background, to investigate. The investigation takes Sam to Paris and Bordeaux, where he hooks up with the elegant insurance agent Sophie Costes, a fellow wine and food snob. The trail finally leads them to a man named Francis Reboul in Marseille, and soon, with the help of Sophie's journalist cousin, Phillipe, they get an in with Reboul and close in on closing the caper. While the plot may be predictable, the pleasures of this very French adventure-and there are many-aren't in the resolution, of course, but in the pleasant stroll through the provinces and in the glasses of wine downed and decadent meals consumed. (Check Catalog)

Connected : the surprising power of our social networks and how they shape our lives

by Nicholas A. Christakis. Harvard professor and health care policy specialist Christakis (Death Foretold: Prophecy and Prognosis in Medical Care) became interested in social connectivity when observing that the mortality rate of spouses spike after a partner passes away. Christakis sought out a collaboration with Fowler, a health systems and political scientist, and together they compare topology (the hows of a given structure) across different social networks to better explain how participation and positioning enhances the effectiveness of an individual, and why the "whole" of a network is "greater than the sum of its parts." Five basic rules describe the relationship between individuals and their networks-including mutual adaptation, the influence of friends and friends' friends, the network's "life of its own"-but the results do more than promote the good of the group: they also spread contagions; create "epidemics" of obesity, smoking and substance abuse; disseminate fads and markets; alter voting patterns; and more. A thorough but popular take on a complex phenomenon, this volume offers an entertaining guide to the mechanics and importance of human networking. -Library Journal (Check Catalog)

Crush : a Karen Vail novel

by Alan Jacobson. FBI Profiler Karen Vail's idyllic vacation to Napa Valley with her boyfriend, Det. Robby Hernandez, is derailed on day one. A mutilated body bearing distinctive wounds is discovered during their exclusive wine tasting, and Vail is drawn to the case. Further investigations lead her to a second corpse with similar wounds. By the end of day two, Vail joins the Napa County Major Crimes Task Force. As additional bodies are found, Vail and her new colleagues begin a relentless pursuit of "The Napa Crush Killer." As possible motives and patterns begin to emerge and task force members are targeted, intensity levels increase. Jacobson's extensive FBI research background yields a gripping story laced with political underpinnings and dizzying twists that will have readers perched on the edge of their seats. In a style rivaling that of Patricia Cornwell or Harlan Coben, Jacobson surpasses his first Karen Vail thriller, The 7th Victim. Verdict Essential for suspense aficionados. One caveat: readers expecting a neat ending may be disappointed, as a sequel is forthcoming. -Library Journal (Check Catalog)

Ghosts of NY's Capital District : Albany, Schenectady, Troy & more

by Renee Mallett. Covering a dozen communities within the area, read about historic hauntings and modern-day spooks in upstate New York. Renee Mallett is the author of several books, all available from Schiffer Publishing, and numerous pieces of short fiction and poetry. She is a book critic for several online literary journals. She has published articles on a variety of topics ranging from celebrity interviews and travel essays, to fashion reporting. Renee Mallett lives with her husband and three children in southern New Hampshire. (Check catalog)

Nocturnes : five stories of music and nightfall

by Kazuo Ishiguro. In Venice, an old-time singer drafts a guitar player from one of the piazza's bands to accompany him as he serenades the wife he is about to leave. She later turns up in the tale of a sax player whose own wife, having left him, offers to pay for plastic surgery that could help his career. A man who once shared a love for show tunes with an old friend is asked by her husband to act the fool to help save their marriage. A self-centered songwriter breeds disruption while working at his sister's inn, and an inspiring cellist encounters a most unusual teacher. Despite what one might expect from the title, these aren't stories about music, which is simply enfolded in the characters' lives; the music doesn't so much inspire the action as frame it. The writing is lighter and more loose-limbed than one might expect of the author of Never Let Me Go, but it delivers the same scary insights into human misbehavior. Verdict Once again Ishiguro does something different; recommended for anyone who loves thoughtful writing. --Library Journal. (Check Catalog)