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See Upcoming Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Releases
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Previous Staff Picks
Staff Picks for
May/June 2009
Sam's Staff Picks
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O’Brien
“Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse with four small children, is faced with a terrible problem. She must move her family to their summer quarters immediately, or face almost certain death. But her youngest son, Timothy, lies ill with pneumonia and must not be moved. Fortunately, she encounters the rats of NIMH, an extraordinary breed of highly intelligent creatures, who come up with a brilliant solution to her dilemma. And Mrs. Frisby in turn renders them a great service.”
$5.99
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
“Meet “Izzy” Spellman, private investigator. This twenty-eight year old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doors – but the upshot is she’s good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family’s firm, Spellman Investigations. Invading people’s privacy comes naturally to Izzy. In fact, it comes naturally to all the Spellmans. If only they could leave their work at the office. To be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman; tail a Spellman; dig up dirt on, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman.”
$14.00
Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore
“As a boy growing up in Montana, he was Samson Hunts Alone -- until a deadly misunderstanding with the law forced him to flee the Crow reservation at age fifteen. Today he is Samuel Hunter, a successful Santa Barbara insurance salesman with a Mercedes, a condo, and a hollow, invented life. Then one day, shortly after his thirty-fifth birthday, destiny offers him the dangerous gift of love -- in the exquisite form of Calliope Kincaid -- and a curse in the unheralded appearance of an ancient Indian god by the name of Coyote. Coyote, the trickster, has arrived to transform tranquillity into chaos, to reawaken the mystical storyteller within Sam ... and to seriously screw up his existence in the process.”
$12.95
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
“We have all heard the story of Cinderella, the beautiful child cast out to slave among the ashes. But what of her stepsisters, the homely pair exiled into ignominy by the fame of their lovely sibling? What fate befell those untouched by beauty…and what curses accompanied Cinderella’s looks?
Set against the backdrop of 17th century Holland, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister tells the story of Iris, an unlikely heroine who finds herself swept from the lowly streets of Haarlem to a strange world of wealth, artifice, and ambition. Iris’s path quickly becomes intertwined with that of Clara, the mysterious and unnaturally beautiful girl destined to become her sister. While Clara retreats to the cinders of the family hearth , Iris seeks out the shadowy secrets of her new household – and the treacherous truth of her former life. Far more than a mere fairy tale, Confessions of an Ugly Step Sister is a novel of beauty and betrayal – and love unveiled – in the most unexpected of places.”
$16.00
Sloth’s Shoes by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
“Poor Sloth misses his birthday (by a year) because of his slothful ways. His friends had great expectations but forgot with whom they were dealing. In the end, they all have fun, and so will readers with this tongue-teasing, ear pleasing verse.”
$13.95
Andrew's Staff Picks
The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
“Los Angeles, 1947: The mutilated body of a beautiful young woman -- dubbed the Black Dahlia by the press -- is found, spawning the greatest manhunt in California history. Warrants Squad cops Buckeye Bleacher and Lee Blanched are on the case, and soon become obsessed with the victim. They are driven to learn everything about her, and find that their pursuit of her killer and her twisted past lead them on a hellish tour of post-war Hollywood and into a region of total madness.”
$13.99
The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay by Michael Chabon
“This brilliant epic novel set in New York and Prague introduces us to two misfit young men who make it big by creating comic-book superheroes. Joe Kavalier, a young artist who has also been trained in the art of Houdiniesque escape, has just smuggled himself out of Nazi-invaded Prague and landed in New York City. His Brooklyn cousin Sammy Clay is looking for a partner to create heroes, stories, and art for the latest novelty to hit America the comic book. Inspired by their own fears and dreams, Kavalier and Clay create the "Escapists," "The Monitor," and "Luna Moth," inspired by the beautiful Rosa Saks, who will become linked by powerful ties to both men.”
$15.00
Agent To The Stars by John Scalzi
“The space-faring Yherajk have come to Earth to meet us and to begin humanity's first interstellar friendship. There's just one problem: They're hideously ugly and they smell like rotting fish.
So getting humanity's trust is a challenge. The Yherajk need someone who can help them close the deal.
Enter Thomas Stein, who knows something about closing deals. He's one of Hollywood's hottest young agents. But although Stein may have just concluded the biggest deal of his career, it's quite another thing to negotiate for an entire alien race. To earn his percentage this time, he's going to need all the smarts, skills, and wits he can muster.”
$14.95
Young Liars Vol. 1: Daydream Believer by David Lapham
“Danny Noonan was just another twentysomething loser with a dead-end job and a go-nowhere band until he met Sadie, the wild-child daughter of a twisted tycoon whose private perversions are the only things deadlier than his hired guns. Now Danny’s a twentysomething loser with a dead-end job in New York City—and Sadie is wilder than ever, thanks to a bullet in her brain that’s blown away every last one of her inhibitions. Addicted to all available stimuli, Sadie is definitely keeping things lively for Danny and their band of fellow misfits and rejects. But when their latest half-assed, get-rich-quick scheme collides with Sadie’s hidden past, Danny’s crew will discover a whole new meaning for the term “uninhibited”—assuming any of them survive!”
$9.99
The Forest Of Hands And Teeth by Carrie Ryan
“In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future--between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?”
$16.99
Lelia's Staff Picks
Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule
“This searching analysis of the shooting of three children in Oregon by their mother devolves into a study of personality. In May of 1983, Diane Downs drove to a Williamette Valley hospital emergency room with her children, all gravely wounded; one did not survive the first hour, and the other two were disabled for life. Downs initially told of a "bushy-haired stranger" who had committed the crime, but frequently changed her story. Under police questioning she recalled her childhood with a cold, domineering father who abused her sexually, her weak mother, a rape by one of her bosses, her failed marriage and many men with whom she had sex. One of these men, whom she claimed to love, did not want children, and that may have prompted the crime, speculates the author. The greatest strength of this book is the exploration by ex-policewoman Rule (The Stranger Beside Me of the aberrant personality of Downs, who is now imprisoned and not eligible for parole until 2009.”---Publishers Weekly
$7.99
The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharyn McCrumb
“A career lawman will bear witness to the final judgment, as a man he put away 20 years ago is about to be executed for the brutal slaying of two hikers. However, his conscience is no longer clear to the point of absolute certainty about the man's guilt. Also of intense interest to the lawman is the parallel between current events and a legendary murder and execution over 100 years old -- the story of a great injustice, and a woman condemned to die for a crime she didn't commit. Suddenly, the sheriff finds himself in a race against and across time to see that history doesn't repeat itself!”
$7.99
End of Days by Dennis Danvers
“Seventy years have passed since an army of religious zealots "destroyed" the Bin. Now, in the rubble of New Jerusalem -- the ruined city once called Washington--a young Christian Soldier named Sam has uncovered a prototype housing a single uploaded personality. The release of renegade geneticist Walter Tillman from his hundred-year prison leads Sam to an even more astonishing discovery: the Bin, with its billions of inhabitants--including Tillman's lost lover, Stephanie, who desires the freedom of death--still exists, unbeknownst to the mad messianic leader Gabriel and his Army of the Lord.
But soon Gabriel, too, will learn of the Bin's survival. And as doubts erode Sam's religious fervor, as Tillman strives to reunite with his love, and events on Earth and in virtual Heaven more rapidly toward a violent, inescapable conclusion, the destinies of disembodied and planet-bound souls alike will converge. Seventy years have passed since an army of religious zealots "destroyed" the Bin. Now, in the rubble of New Jerusalem -- the ruined city once called Washington--a young Christian Soldier named Sam has uncovered a prototype housing a single uploaded personality. The release of renegade geneticist Walter Tillman from his hundred-year prison leads Sam to an even more astonishing discovery: the Bin, with its billions of inhabitants--including Tillman's lost lover, Stephanie, who desires the freedom of death--"still exists, unbeknownst to the mad messianic leader Gabriel and his Army of the Lord.
But soon Gabriel, too, will learn of the Bin's survival. And as doubts erode Sam's religious fervor, as Tillman strives to reunite with his love, and events on Earth and in virtual Heaven morerapidly toward a violent, inescapable conclusion, the destinies of disembodied and planet-bound souls alike will converge.”
$16.00
The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
“Now that The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (the only detective agency for ladies and others in Botswana) is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride: she's reached her late thirties ("the finest age to be"), has a house, two children, a good fiance -- Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni -- and many satisfied customers. But life is never without its problems. It turns out that her adopted son is responsible for the dead hoopoe bird in the garden; her assistant, Mma Makutsi, wants a husband and needs help with her idea to open the Kalahari Typing School for Men; yet Mma Ramotswe's sexist rival has no trouble opening his Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency across town. Will Precious Ramotswe's delightfully cunning and profoundly moral methods save the day?”
$12.95
The Favorite Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris
"Chosen with care from seven different books, this is a well-made collection, the more welcome because some of the stories have long been out of print."---Horn Book
$20.00
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