Below stairs : the classic kitchen maid's memoir that inspired "Upstairs, downstairs" and "Downton Abbey"

 by Margaret Powell.  The popularity of Sunday school among the working classes had less to do with religion than parents' much-needed private time, according to Margaret Powell. Such revelations are rampant in Below Stairs, a fascinating and feisty memoir of Powell's life as a kitchen maid and cook in 1920s England. Originally published in the UK in 1968, it's again a best-seller there after the debut of the Emmy Award-winning series, Downton Abbey, which, along with Upstairs Downstairs, took inspiration from the book. Powell writes conversationally, offering cutting and humorous insights. She piles on the details of a domestic servant's day up at 5:30, work enough for six people, and don't forget to iron the bootlaces but stops before she falls into self-pity. Running through it all is the divide between the servants and Them, manifesting itself in everything from the sad parade of practical Christmas gifts to the employer's order that nothing be served from a servant's bare hands. Powell reminds readers that these things shouldn't be forgotten, and she is an honest, saucy, and skilled storyteller. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

The angel Esmeralda : nine stories

 by Don DeLillo After 15 reverberating novels, DeLillo, winner of the National Book Award and the PEN/Saul Bellow Prize, to name but two of his honors, assembles his first short story collection. In tales dating from 1979 to 2011, DeLillo is prescient and timeless, commanding and sensitive. A recurring motif involves individuals ensnared in mysterious dialectics. Two students at an isolated college become obsessed with a stranger. Two men orbit the earth in Human Moments in World War III. gazing down at a planet besieged by desertification, violent storms, and war. A man in a prison for white-collar felons watches his young daughters on television delivering edgy stock-market reports in a brilliantly topsy-turvy take on global financial crises. An elegant tale about an earthquake raises urgent questions about how one lives gracefully on shifting ground. The title story is a masterpiece. Set in the graffiti-covered ruins of the South Bronx, it tells the wrenching tale of two nuns, a feral girl, a murder, and the profound hunger for a miracle. In each trenchant tale, DeLillo shows us that we are made of stories and that our quest for anchorage in safe harbors is a grand illusion. This towering collection builds in the mind like a mighty cumulonimbus lit by lightning flashes and scored with thunder. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A signal writer, DeLillo always makes news, and this prophetic first will be of unique interest. --Booklist (Check catalog)

Liberty defined : 50 essential issues that affect our freedom

 by Ron Paul.  In his latest book, the long-time Texas Congressman and Republican presidential candidate puts his distinctive libertarian spin on some of the most controversial topics in American politics. He sees the primary battle as a struggle to throw off a creeping authoritarianism, characterized by unchecked government spending, foreign military incursions, and other excesses, in order to recapture the original liberties that the Founding Fathers proscribed. Eliminating tyranny from contemporary politics can only be achieved by embracing liberty and not by relying on failed government programs and misunderstood protections, according to Paul. To accomplish that goal, the tyrannical excesses of both Democrats and Republicans must be reined in. In alphabetical order, Paul tackles an eclectic mix of topics from abortion and campaign finance reform to terrorism and Zionism; the unifying construct being that these weighty issues are "controversial" and "tend to confuse people." He is an equal opportunity critic who doesn't hesitate to underline contradictions emanating from both parties. Groupings by topic would have made more sense, but it's a small quibble for anyone determined to understand how Ron Paul views America. --Publishers Weekly (Check Catalog)

Open city : a novel

 by Teju Cole.  Nigerian immigrant Julius, a young graduate student studying psychiatry in New York City, has recently broken up with his girlfriend and spends most of his time dreamily walking around Manhattan. The majority of Open City centers on Julius' inner thoughts as he rambles throughout the city, painting scenes of both what occurs around him and past events that he can't help but dwell on. For reasons not altogether clear, Julius' walks turn into worldwide travel, and he flies first to Europe, where he has an unplanned one-night stand and makes some interesting friends, then to Nigeria, and finally back to New York City. Along the way, he meets many people and often has long discussions with them about philosophy and politics. Brought up in a military school, he seems to welcome these conversations. Upon returning to New York, he meets a young Nigerian woman who profoundly changes the way he sees himself. Readers who enjoy stream-of-consciousness narratives and fiction infused with politics will find this unique and pensive book a charming read. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Behind the beautiful forevers

 by Katherine Boo. While the distance between rich and poor is growing in the U.S., the gap between the haves and have-nots in India is staggering to behold. This first book by a New Yorker staff writer (and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Washington Post) jolts the reader's consciousness with the opposing realities of poverty and wealth in a searing visit to the Annawaldi settlement, a flimflam slum that has recently sprung up in the western suburbs of the gigantic city of Mumbai, perched tentatively along the modern highway leading to the airport and almost within a stone's throw of new, luxurious hotels. We first meet Abdul, whose daily grind is to collect trash and sell it; in doing so, he has lifted his large family above subsistence. Boo takes us all around the community, introducing us to a slew of disadvantaged individuals who, nevertheless, draw on their inner strength to not only face the dreary day but also ponder a day to come that will, perhaps, be a little brighter. Sympathetic yet objective and eloquently rendered. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

The shadow patrol

 by Alex Berenson. Tougher than Kevlar, John Wells is in Afghanistan for his sixth outing (after The Secret Soldier) in league with best-selling author and former New York Times reporter Berenson. Wells may suffer a bit of ennui from his killing lifestyle, but his high-octane adventure keeps his readers revved-up and racing to reach the end. The job is to track down a mole operating at the CIA station in Kabul. Soon, Wells realizes that heroin trafficking is at the core of the betrayal. Relying on nuances, a few bits of circumstantial evidence, and his own strong experiences, Wells lays and springs a trap with himself as bait. Verdict As real as the morning headlines, this thriller pours on the blood and guts but also traces the enigmas faced by men in a war zone. Berenson's special gift is to crank up the suspense until the armchair spy hollers for relief-and the next Wells installment.  -Library Journal (Check Catalog)

I know who you are and I saw what you did : social networks and the death of privacy

 With 750 million members, Facebook has the power and reach of a nation, the third largest in the world. Andrews, legal scholar and expert on social media, examines the concept of social network as a nation in need of a constitution that protects the rights of its citizens. Law-enforcement agencies and repressive regimes alike are using information from Facebook pages to go after perceived wrongdoers. Similarly, school administrators and employers search Facebook for information. With the blurring of lines between government and social networks, Facebook and other social media are used to publicize what used to be private information on citizens that they have willingly or inadvertently made public. Andrews explores growing talk of a social-network constitution, not to establish hard-and-fast rules but to offer a firm expression of fundamental values to foster development of technology that protects privacy. She includes a proposed constitution that ensures the right to connect, to free speech and expression, and to privacy of place and information. A fascinating look at social media and a valuable resource for Internet users to protect personal data. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Best staged plans

 by Claire Cook.  Sandra and her husband, Greg, raised their two kids while renovating their Massachusetts Victorian house. Now she's ready for the next stage in her life, but an empty nest is nowhere in sight since her son is still living in the basement. She decides to take her home-staging business to the next level by decorating a boutique hotel in Atlanta. It will allow her to spend time with her newlywed daughter, keep an eye on her best friend's younger boyfriend, who owns the hotel, and hopefully give Greg the push he needs to ready the house for sale. Conflict between happy family memories and the need to move forward is tempered by a great running gag about reading glasses, realistic relationships with friends and children, and much-needed perspective from a stranger in need. Addicts to HGTV marathons will drool over Sandra's tips for paint samples and thrift-store bargains. Cook's likable heroine is charming without being silly, and her story is very well paced all the way to a genuinely delightful conclusion. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Republic of noise : the loss of solitude in schools and culture

 by Diana Senechal.  In Republic of Noise, Diana Senechal confronts a culture that has come to depend on instant updates and communication at the expense of solitude. Where once it was common wisdom that the chatter of the present, about the present, could not always grasp the present, today we treat "real time" as though it were the only real time. Schools emphasize rapid group work and fragmented activity, not the thoughtful study of complex subjects. The Internet offers contact with others throughout the day and night; we lose the ability to be apart, even in our minds. Yet solitude does not vanish; it is part of every life. It plays an essential role in literature, education, democracy, relationships, and matters of conscience. Throughout its analyses and argument, the book calls not for drastic changes but for a subtle shift: an attitude that honors solitude without descending into dogma. Outspoken, lyrical, and unassuming, Senechal's book dismantles the "groupthink" that pervades our lives. --Summary (Check Catalog)