#family life

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Here are some of the new books coming to our shelves this week for you to add to your book list!

CROSS DOWN

Detectives Alex Cross and John Sampson join forces again to protect the Cross family from a shadow force advancing on the nation’s capital, in the latest addition to the long-running, extremely popular series.

NEAR MISS

Stone Barrington faces down a deadly foe in the latest thrilling adventure in the #1 New York Times best-selling series. Following a string of adventures, Stone Barrington is enjoying some downtime in New York City when a chance encounter introduces him to a charming new companion. Too bad she also comes with the baggage of a persistent ex-boyfriend intent on retribution.

LADY TAN’S CIRCLE OF WOMEN

Sent into an arranged marriage, Tan Yunxian, forbidden to continue her work as a midwife-in-training as well as see her forever friend Meiling, is ordered to act like proper wife and seeks a way to continue treating women and girls from every level of society in 15th-century China.

THE WIND KNOWS MY NAME

Traces the ripple effects of war and immigration on two children 5-year-old Samuel, whose mother puts him on a Kindertransport train out of Nazi-occupied Austria to England in 1938, and 7-year-old Anita, who boards another train eight decades later to the U.S., where she’s separated from her mother.

THE SURVIVOR

Unearthing the perfectly preserved body of a female warrior in Southeast Asia, archeologist Riley Smith and Eve Duncan seek answers about this extraordinary past life, leading Riley to make a discovery that will change history if she can survive long enough to share it with the world.

THE PARIS DAUGHTER

As WWII ends, Elise returns to Paris to reunite with her daughter only to find her friend Juliette, the woman she entrusted her daughter with, has seemingly vanished without a trace, which leads Elise on a desperate search to New York and to Juliette one final, fateful time.

A LITTLE RAY OF SUNSHINE

A young man shocks his adoptive mother by flying to Cape Cod and walking unannounced into the bookstore owned by his birth mother and her grandfather and surprising them, forcing both women into addressing their assumptions about motherhood.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Here some of the new exciting releases for you to take a look at this week!

IDENTITY

A woman discovers her apartment broken into and her roommate dead after meeting a cold-hearted con artist at the bar where she works in the new novel from the number-one best-selling author of more than 230 novels.

LIAR!

Justice seekers who always have each other’s backs, siblings Luna and her brother Cullen set out to unravel a cold case connected to a mysterious armoire.

ROGUE JUSTICE

Asked by a fellow law clerk to look into his boss’s death, Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene, after another shocking murder, is led to a list of names – all judges on the FISA Court, also known as America’s “secret court” – and must race the clock to stop an unprecedented national crisis.

THE SENATOR’S WIFE

Hiring a health aide to give her the support and independence she needs after hip replacement surgery, DC philanthropist and Senator’s wife Sloane Chase, as weeks go by and she becomes sicker, suspects her seemingly perfect employee is plotting to steal her husband, her reputation and even her life.

FLASH POINT

To stop an unseen enemy from destroying the Campus, Jack Ryan Jr. is led to the South China Sea where he, after a midair collision serves as a flash point, must put the pieces of a conspiracy together to stop the world’s two remaining super powers from going to war.

SUMMER STAGE

Working together to ensure their summer production at a storied Block Island theater is a success, former aspiring playwright Amy Trevino, her daughter Sam and her brother, a well-loved Hollywood actor, must grapple with their desires for fame and fortune and discover what they really want out of life.

THE POISONER’S RING

In 1869 Edinburgh, modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson, adjusting to her new life in Victorian Scotland as an undertaker’s assistant to Dr. Duncan Gray, investigates the case of a serial poisoner targeting men, and all signs point to the grieving widows, the latest of which is Gray’s older sister.

BRAVE THE WILD RIVER

The story of two pioneering female botanists and their historic 1938 boat trip down the Colorado River which led them to be the first to survey and catalog the plant life of the Grand Canyon.

I AM AYAH: THE WAY HOME

Shielding herself from the world behind the safety of her camera lens, photographer Ayah Fleming is pulled into the past when she returns home and uncovers the truth about her descendants with the help of a man who makes her long for a brighter future.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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In this week’s special picks there are new exciting detective, mystery, suspense, and many more genres for you to choose from! Enjoy!

The 23rd Midnight

When an obsessed maniac turns serial killer Evan Burke’s true-crime story into a playbook, adding some of his own gruesome touches, Detective Lindsay Boxer, who put Burke in jail, tracks this elusive suspect, who is determined to put an end to the Murder Club permanently.

The Wedding Planner

Signing up for several lavish affairs, in addition to her mother’s next marriage and her twin sister’s modest ceremony, wildly successful wedding planner Faith Ferguson grapples with private quarrels, unplanned pregnancies, family scandals, dark secrets and almost cancelled ceremonies, proving that there is more than one path to happily ever after.

The Bride Wore White

When she is kidnapped, drugged and wakes up in a bloodstained wedding dress next to a dead man, psychic Prudence Ryland, framed for murder, knows who the real killer is and finds an unexpected ally in Jack Wingate, a crime boss’s associate, who is the only one who believes her.

All the Days of Summer

A divorced empty-nester moves into a cottage on Nantucket and is irritated when her adult son arrives with his serious girlfriend and the two women must learn to overcome their differences to achieve the future they want.

The Half Moon

Longtime bartender Malcolm Gephardt realizes his dream of owning a bar, while his wife Jess, a lawyer struggling with fertility issues, wonders how to reshape her life, in a novel told over the course of one tumultuous week, laying bare the complexities of marriage, family, longing and desire.

Meet Me at the Lake

In desperate need of a lifeline, 32-year-old Fern Brookbanks finds it in the form of Will Baxter, who rescued her nine years ago, and, believing he is hiding something, but knowing he’s the only one who understands what she’s going through, wonders if she can do the same for him.

The Ferryman

A ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process and, when necessary, enforcing it Proctor Bennet, of the Department of Social Contracts, receives a disturbing and cryptic message from his father, while The Support Staff, who keep Prospera running, organize a revolution that causes Proctor to question everything he once believed.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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There are tons of new releases that come to our shelves every week. Here are some books we picked out for you!

Things I Wish I Told My Mother

When Laurie, a nomadic artist, surprises her mother, an elegant perfectionist, with a dream vacation to Paris, which brings an unexpected sparkle to her eyes, mother and daughter unpack a lifetime of secrets and hopes in the City of Light.

Dark Angel

Letty Davenport and her reluctant partner from the NSA infiltrate a hacker group called Ordinary People and discover someone within their circle has betrayed them and put them in danger, in the second novel of the series following The Investigator.

My Heart Will Find You

While caring for an elderly man during the pandemic, Etta Wilmont, every time she falls asleep, passes through the past and the present, discovering she has the power to make the lives of others better – and the chance to find a love to last a lifetime.

The Only Survivors

When a group of classmates reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of a terrible accident, one of the survivors disappears, casting fear and suspicion on the remaining individuals, and on the original tragedy itself.

The Trackers

Commissioned to create a mural representing Dawes, Wyoming, for their new Post Office, Val Welch, a painter in Depression-era America, stays with a wealthy art lover, his wife and a mysterious elder cowboy where he turns up secrets that could spark formidable changes for all of them.

The Fourth Enemy

While trying to prove Malcolm Vayne, a beloved philanthropist, is guilty of fraud, prosecutor Daniel Pitt must rescue his wife, a forensic scientist who has been kidnapped by one of Vayne’s crazed supporters, putting their lives and the case in danger.

The Seaside Library

Returning to touristy beach town where they grew up together, Ivy and Ariana, when a woman goes missing, find the circumstances similar to a crime from their childhood, placing them in a terrible situation since the person that may be responsible is the same one they lied for years ago.

Standing in the Shadows

In 1980, Nick Hartley, the prime suspect in the murder of his ex-girlfriend, sets out to find the truth, leading him down a dangerous path, while in 2019, Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called in to investigate skeletal remains and must hunt down a killer.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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There are many exciting new book releases coming and you don’t want to miss it…

ON THE LINE by Fern Michaels

Undergoing a series of genetic tests to learn the cause of his sudden illness, rising star chef Mateo Castillo discovers his results threatening to uncover a dark secret that will expose his family to dangers in the past, while clouding the investigation into who is trying to hurt him in the present.

HANG THE MOON by Jeannette Walls

After encouraging her younger step-brother to participate in daredevil activities leads to an accident, Sallie Kincaid is cast out of her family, in the new novel from the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Glass Castle.

HER DEADLY GAME by Robert Dugoni

After a failed romance with a coworker, a Seattle prosecutor must return home to her family’s failing law firm to work for her father until she accepts a high profile case in which the prosecutor is her ex.

HISS & TELL by Rita Mae Brown

Harry, Susan and Fair investigate the suspicious deaths of three people found in Crozet with a deadly drug in their systems with the help of their feline sidekicks in the latest addition to the long-running series following Claws for Alarm.

THE PERFUMIST OF PARIS by Alka Joshi

In 1974, Paris perfumer Radha, on the cusp of a breakthrough, travels to India where she enlists the help of her sister and the courtesans of Agra, who use the power of fragrance to seduce, while finally confronting a past secret, which threatens her already vulnerable marriage.

LOYALTY by Lisa Scottoline

Set during the rise of the Mafia in 19th-century Sicily, this epic story of good vs evil follows four individuals a desperate lemon grower; an idealistic lawyer with a secret life; a new mother; and a reclusive goatherd under constant threat of being discovered as a Jews as their lives collide.

LOVE, HONOR, BETRAY by Mary Monroe

With their sham of a marriage in danger, Jessie and Hubert Wiggins, desperately trying to maintain their devout facade and respectable standing, must decide whether or not to reveal the person who might be behind the serial murders plaguing their town, which would risk their own web of lies being exposed.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Take a look at some of the exciting new releases coming to our shelves in this week…

Paris: The Memoir

In this deeply personal memoir, the ultimate It Girl shares, for the first time, the hidden history that traumatized and defined her and how she rose above a series of heart-wrenching challenges to find healing, lasting love, and a life of meaning and purpose.

I Will Find You

Receiving evidence that his son might still be alive, an innocent father convicted of murdering his own child breaks out of prison to uncover the truth, in the new novel by the best-selling author of The Stranger.

Collateral Damage

After her husband is involved in a suspicious accident, Ali Reynolds must take his place at a ransomware conference in London and finds herself in a race against time as she uncovers mysterious vendettas that endanger the people she loves.

Hello Beautiful

Awarded a college basketball scholarship away from his childhood home silenced by tragedy, a young man befriends a spirited young woman who welcomes him into her loving, loud, chaotic household, in the new novel by the author of Dear Edward.

Good Dog, Bad Cop

Paterson Police Department’s Corey Douglas and his K Team investigate a suspicious crime near the Long Island sound that resulted in two deaths and a cold case, in the fourth novel of the series following Citizen K-9.

All That Is Hidden

Former private detective Molly Murphy Sullivan is shocked when her husband tells her they are moving to Fifth Avenue and that he’s running for sheriff, in the latest addition to the long-running series following Wild Irish Rose.

So Shall You Reap

Assigned to investigate the murder of an undocumented Sri Lankan immigrant, Commissario Guido Brunetti must rely on gossip and the memories of people who knew the victim, and as parts of the puzzle come together, a connection to his own youthful past turns out to be the final piece.

Dust Child

The abandoned son of a Black American soldier and a Vietnamese woman during the war dreams of finding his family and a better life in the new novel, from the internationally best-selling author of The Mountains Sing.

Our Best Intentions

Caught in the middle of a criminal investigation after finding her classmate stabbed and bleeding, Angie, an introverted teenager, must navigate conflicting narratives while her father attempts to shield her and protect his hard-earned efforts to assimilate, which overshadows his ability to see right from wrong.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Here are some of the new books coming to our shelves this week for you to add to your book list!

Storm Watch

After finding the frozen and mutilated body of a man killed near the location of a mysterious high-tech structure, Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett finds his investigation obstructed by federal agents, extremists and the governor and must find away around them to stop the oncoming storm of peril.

Never Never

The #1 New York Times best-selling author of It Starts with Us joins forces with the New York Times best-selling author of The Wives have created a gripping, twisty, romantic mystery.

Stars in an Italian Sky

In 2017 New York, Luca and Cassandra, the perfect match for each other, find their blossoming relationship changed forever when a chance meeting between their grandparents reveals a long-buried family secret linked back to two star-crossed lovers in post-World War II Italy.

The Angel Maker

When her brother, Chris, the survivor of a gruesome attack years ago, goes missing, Katie Shaw must join forces with Detective Laurence Page who believes a recent murder is linked to Chris, and to a notorious serial killer, who legend had it, could see the future.

A Day of Fallen Night

With the younger generation questioning the Priory’s purpose since wyrms haven’t appeared since the Nameless One, Tunuva Melim, a sister of the Priory, finds her calling when humankind needs protection after a new age of terror and violence is ushered in.

The Maltese Iguana

When the only witness to a CIA revenge mission gone wrong is forced to flee his home country, he arrives in the Florida Keys where he runs into the Sunshine State’s most lovable serial killer, Serge A. Storms, and his convoy of hardcore partiers.

The Crane Husband

Taking care of her small Midwestern family while her mother, a talented artist, weaves beautiful tapestries, a 15-year-old girl, when her mom brings home a 6-foot-tall crane, must protect them all from this invasive creature whose demands could destroy everything – unless she changes the story.

Black Candle Women

Follows four generations of the Montrose family, who have been living with a curse that leaves any person they fall in love with dead, stemming back to a Voodoo sorceress in 1950s New Orleans’ French Quarter.

The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist tells the powerful, and inspiring story of Nancy Hopkins, a reluctant feminist who, in 1999, became the leader of 16 female scientists who forced MIT to publicly admit it had been discriminating against its female faculty for years.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Here are some of the new books coming to our shelves this week for you to add to your book list!

Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson – A heartrending, intimate memoir from the iconic pin-up and former star of Baywatch.

Maame by Jessica George – A young British Ghanaian woman navigates her 20s and finds her place in the world.

Exiles by Jane Harper – A federal investigator, Aaron Falk, investigates the disappearance of young mother who left her baby alone in a festival crowd and vanished in the latest novel from the New York Times best-selling author of The Dry.

The Drift by C. J. Tudor – Hannah, trapped with a handful of survivors after an accident; Meg, stranded in a cable car high above snowy mountains with five strangers; and Carter, plunged into darkness at an isolated ski chalet, are all faced with something that threatens to consume all of humanity.

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano – Owing a favor to the Russian mob for buying a luxury car she accidentally destroyed, Finlay agrees to help identify a contract killer in the latest novel of the series following Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead.

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer – A redemptive story of a mother’s gripping journey across the Caribbean to find her stolen children in the aftermath of slavery.

8 Rules of Love by Jay Shetty – The author of the #1 New York Times best-seller Think Like a Monk offers a revelatory guide to every stage of romance, drawing on ancient wisdom and new science.

Lisa’s Top Ten of 2022

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This list of books is all about mom life. Whether is be getting the kids to read for school, what to make for dinner, how to make tedious chores like folding laundry more enjoyable, planning that family vacation, or catching up on the summer best sellers from 5 years ago….. Here are my favorites (or the most useful) picks for 2022.

Getting the kids to read:

Interrupting Chicken Cookies for Breakfast– by David Ezra Stein. This is the latest in the Interrupting Chicken series and makes everyone in my house laugh- and seriously consider eating cookies for breakfast!

Press Start! Game Over, Super Rabbit Boy! by T. Flintham is first in the Press Start! series that have helped young readers in my house get over that mental block from “I can only read picture books” to “I can read on my own!” They are short, easy to read, and have a fun video game theme. Most importantly, they look and feel like short chapter books and help building some reading confidence. The series is now up to 12 books.

What to Make For Dinner:

The Weekday Vegetarians by Jenny Rosenstrach. I subscribe to a local CSA (community supported agriculture) and was looking for ways to get my kids to eat more of what comes in the CSA bag.  Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a miraculous way to make cauliflower so my son will willingly feed it to himself.  But I did appreciate this author’s approach to introduce more vegetables at the table with small plates and tastes.     

Barefoot Contessa Foolproof– by Ina Garten. I have 2 other Ina Garten cookbooks and use them regularly.  I find this one to be a little heavy of the seafood, which I don’t cook with much at home.  But the soups and desserts in this book are delicious and great around the holidays. I love the winter minestrone recipe in this book.

Watched too much Bluey:


Big Little Lies– by Liane Moriarty. This is more like the Bluey antidote for when you need a story that is darker, more adult, and everyone’s hurt feelings aren’t resolved in 7 minutes or less. It is a suspense book full of scandal and bad behavior of parents in a close knit community.

Keep your hands free for household chores:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. In an attempt to make housework more tolerable, I started listening to the audiobook version of Ready Player One. It’s an action packed adventure to entertain you while folding laundry. Fans of Star Trek: TNG and The Big Bang Theory might get a kick out of listening to Wil Wheaton, who does a great job of making the audiobook not seem so audiobook-ish.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. A hit among book clubs and I wanted to give it a whirl. It didn’t disappoint. And who doesn’t want to escape to the golden age of Hollywood while you are cleaning out closets!?!

Mysteries- my weak spot:

The Maid by Nita Prose. This is a good cozy mystery story with a unique narrator. The main character does a lot of growing while solving the mystery, making this a satisfying read.

Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano. A likeable new series of mystery books. If you are a fan of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich you will like this accidental sleuth who is trying to balance her career and her young family.

Go ahead, plan that dream vacation:

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World by Bob Sehlinger & Len Testa. If you are even thinking about a trip to Disney World I suggest you read up.  There is so much to see and do it can make the planning process overwhelming.  There are many guides out there to help you, but this one was my favorite.

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Here are some of the new books coming to our shelves this week for you to add to your book list!

Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy – Told entirely through the transcripts of the narrator’s psychiatric sessions, this intimate portrait of grief and longing follows 20-year-old Alicia Western as she, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, contemplates the nature of madness, her hallucinations and her own existence in 1972 Black River Falls, Wisconsin.

Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit & Glamour of an Icon by Kate Andersen Brower – The author of the New York Times best-seller The Residence returns with the first authorized biography of the Hollywood icon, including her rise to fame at age 12, her eight marriages and her efforts to fight AIDS.

Tom Clancy Red Winter by Marc Cameron – When possibly Soviet defector offers the CIA details of his government’s espionage plans in return for asylum, former Marine and brilliant CIA analyst Jack Ryan goes behind the Iron Curtain to find answers before the Cold War turns into a Red Winter.

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley – A 1851 Monterey widow working at a brothel investigates when the dead bodies of young women start appearing on the outskirts of town in the new novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres.

The Ingenue by Rachel Kapelke-Dale – When the family estate is bequeathed to a man she shares a complicated history with, former piano prodigy Saskia Kreis is forced to reexamine her own past—and the romantic relationship that changed the course of her life—for answers.

Night Shift by Robin Cook – When her longtime friend, Dr. Sue Passero, dies mysteriously in the hospital parking garage, newly appointed chief medical examiner Dr. Laurie Montgomery asks her husband to investigate, which pits him against a clever and deranged killer determined to administer another lethal blow.

Three-Edged Sword by Jeff Lindsay – Fearless thief and master of disguise Riley Wolfe plans his biggest heist yet even though his list of powerful enemies grows longer and more dangerous.

W. E. B. Griffin the Devil’s Weapons by Peter Kirsanow – Dick Canidy and the agents of the OSS search war-torn Poland for a rocket scientist who holds the secrets to the Nazis’ superweapons before the Germans and Soviets get their hands on him.

The Last Invitation by Darby Kane – Invited to join a secret club of powerful women, the Sophie Foundation, who mete out justice to men who behave very, very badly, Jessa Hall soon realizes the high—and deadly—price of admission and discovers that once in the group, it’s impossible to get out.

~Semanur