Doctor Death

Doctor Death by Lene Kaaberbol Summary: From the coauthor of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller The Boy in the Suitcase, a “gripping plot” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) and captivating historical thriller. Strong-minded and ambitious, Madeleine Karno is eager to shatter the constraints of her provincial French upbringing. She wants to become a pathologist like her father, whose assistant she is, but this is 1894, and autopsies are considered unseemly and ungodly, even when performed by a man—hence his odious nickname, Doctor Death. That a young woman should wish to spend her time dissecting corpses is too scandalous for words. Thus, when seventeen-year-old Cecile Montaine is found dead in the snowy streets of Varbourg, her family will not permit a full post-mortem autopsy, and Madeleine and her father are left with a single mysterious clue: in the dead girl’s nostrils they find a type of parasite normally seen only in dogs. Soon after, the priest who held vigil by the dead girl’s corpse is brutally murdered. The thread that connects these two events is a tangled one, and as the death toll mounts, Madeleine must seek knowledge in odd places: behind convent walls, in secret diaries, and in the yellow stare of an aging wolf. Eloquently written and with powerful insight into human and animal nature, Doctor Death is at once a gripping mystery and a poignant coming-of-age story. Angie's Comments: This is one in series of books starring Madeline Karno, a young woman interested in pathology. Madeline is an interesting character, especially in regards to her interests. The mystery is mysterious and I couldn’t figure out who it did. I didn’t like the ending as much as I liked the rest of the book, as it seemed contrived and confusing. However, I will read more books starring Madeline Karno. Recommended for mystery readers.    Request this item

Bride by Mistake

Bride by Mistake by Anne Gracie Summary: At the age of thirteen, in the middle of a war, Isabella was saved from a forced marriage to a man she hated when handsome young English Lieutenant Luke Ripton married her. Lieutenant Ripton, tall, dark, and as beautiful as an archangel. He placed her in a convent school, and left. She waited -- like a princess in a tower dreaming of her prince -- for eight years. Now those dreams have withered and Bella is taking charge of her life... Angie's Comments: This course of true love does not go smoothly – it involves Luke riding sidesaddle, for starters. Isabella is a strong female character, and Luke is a good foil for her. It is a story about family and responsibilities. Recommended for historical romance readers.    Request this item

Vitamania

Vitamania: Our Obsessive Quest for Nutritional Perfection by Catherine Price Summary: Should I take a multivitamin? Does vitamin C really prevent colds? Can I get enough vitamin D from the sun? Are dietary supplements safe? How much of each vitamin do I need? Most of us know nothing about vitamins. What's more, what we think we know is harming both our personal nutrition and our national health. By focusing on vitamins at the expense of everything else, we've become blind to the bigger picture: despite our belief that vitamins are an absolute good--and the more of them, the better--vitamins are actually small and surprisingly mysterious pieces of a much larger nutritional puzzle. In Vitamania, award-winning journalist Catherine Price offers a lucid and lively journey through our cherished yet misguided beliefs about vitamins, and reveals a straightforward, blessedly anxiety-free path to enjoyable eating and good health. When vitamins were discovered a mere century ago, they changed the destiny of the human species by preventing and curing many terrifying diseases. Yet it wasn't long before vitamins spread from labs of scientists into the realm of food marketers and began to take on a life of their own. By the end of the Second World War, vitamins were available in forms never before seen in nature--vitamin gum, vitamin doughnuts, even vitamin beer--and their success showed food manufacturers that adding synthetic vitamins to otherwise nutritionally empty products could convince consumers that they were healthy. The era of "vitamania," as one 1940s journalist called it, had begun. Though we've gained much from our embrace of vitamins, what we've lost is a crucial sense of perspective. Vitamins may be essential to our lives, but they are not the only important substances in food. By buying into a century of hype and advertising, we have accepted the false idea that particular dietary chemicals can be used as shortcuts to health--whether they be antioxidants or omega-3s or, yes, vitamins. And it's our vitamin-inspired desire for effortless shortcuts that created today's dietary supplement industry, a veritable Wild West of overpromising "miracle" substances that can be legally sold without any proof that they are effective or safe. For the countless individuals seeking to maximize their health and who consider vitamins to be the keys to well-being, Price's Vitamania will be a game-changing look into the roots of America's ongoing nutritional confusion. Her travels to vitamin manufacturers and food laboratories and military testing kitchens--along with her deep dive into the history of nutritional science-- provide a witty and dynamic narrative arc that binds Vitamania together. The result is a page-turning exploration of the history, science, hype, and future of nutrition. And her ultimate message is both inspiring and straightforward: given all that we don't know about vitamins and nutrition, the best way to decide what to eat is to stop obsessing and simply embrace this uncertainty head-on. By exposing our extraordinary psychological relationship with vitamins and challenging us to question our beliefs, Vitamania won't just change the way we think about vitamins. It will change the way we think about food.  Angie's Comments: This book is a reminder that vitamins are important for humans, but that vitamins have limits to the miracles they can perform. I really enjoyed the book, especially the first half. Humans are forever trying to figure out how to get the best health, and Vitamania documents that quest. Recommended for readers interested in health issues.     Request this item

Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever (Or Die Trying)

Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever (Or Die Trying) by Bill Gifford Summary: From acclaimed journalist Bill Gifford comes a roaring journey into the world of anti-aging science in search of answers to a universal obsession: what can be done about getting old? SPRING CHICKEN: Stay Young Forever (or Die Trying) SPRING CHICKEN is a full-throttle, high-energy ride through the latest research, popular mythology, and ancient wisdom on mankind's oldest obsession: How can we live longer? And better? In his funny, self-deprecating voice, veteran reporter Bill Gifford takes readers on a fascinating journey through the science of aging, from the obvious signs like wrinkles and baldness right down into the innermost workings of cells. We visit cutting-edge labs where scientists are working to "hack" the aging process, like purging "senescent" cells from mice to reverse the effects of aging. He'll reveal why some people live past 100 without even trying, what has happened with resveratrol, the "red wine pill" that made headlines a few years ago, how your fat tissue is trying to kill you, and how it's possible to unlock longevity-promoting pathways that are programmed into our very genes. Gifford separates the wheat from the chaff as he exposes hoaxes and scams foisted upon an aging society, and arms readers with the best possible advice on what to do, what not to do, and what life-changing treatments may be right around the corner. An intoxicating mixture of deep reporting, fascinating science, and prescriptive takeaway, SPRING CHICKEN will reveal the extraordinary breakthroughs that may yet bring us eternal youth, while exposing dangerous deceptions that prey on the innocent and ignorant. Angie's Comments: I learned a lot from this book! Now I am more dubious about claims of anti-aging substances. Why do some people live to be very old and others die young? This book doesn’t solve that question, but it helps in understanding what might and might not work. Gifford has an engaging writing style. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the science of aging and staying young, especially for people who spend money on anti-aging products.      Request this item

The Magician's Lie

The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister Summary: Water for Elephants meets The Night Circus in The Magician's Lie, a debut novel in which the country's most notorious female illusionist stands accused of her husband's murder - and she has only one night to convince a small-town policeman of her innocence. The Amazing Arden is the most famous female illusionist of her day, renowned for her notorious trick of sawing a man in half on stage. One night in Waterloo, Iowa, with young policeman Virgil Holt watching from the audience, she swaps her trademark saw for a fire ax. Is it a new version of the illusion, or an all-too-real murder? When Arden's husband is found lifeless beneath the stage later that night, the answer seems clear. But when Virgil happens upon the fleeing magician and takes her into custody, she has a very different story to tell. Even handcuffed and alone, Arden is far from powerless-and what she reveals is as unbelievable as it is spellbinding. Over the course of one eerie night, Virgil must decide whether to turn Arden in or set her free... and it will take all he has to see through the smoke and mirrors. "This debut novel is historical fiction that blends magic, mystery, and romance." - Boston Globe, Pick of the Week Angie's Comments: This book is different, for lack of a better word. I read it rather fast, as if I was enthralled just like Virgil. I kept wondering if the magician was lying or telling the truth. So I spent the book in a perpetual haze of confusion, although it wasn’t a bad feeling. I recommend this book for readers of literary novels.     Request this item

In Want of a Wife

In Want of a Wife by Jo Goodman Summary: "Dazzling" --Publishers Weekly (starred review)   When his mail-order bride arrives from New York, a Wyoming rancher gets more than he bargained for in this first-rate romance from the bestselling Jo Goodman.  For fans of Linda Lael Miller and Catherine Anderson. SHE HAS NOWHERE LEFT TO TURN Jane Middlebourne needs a way out. In 1891, life in New York is unforgiving for a young woman with no prospects, especially when her family wants nothing to do with her. So when Jane discovers an ad for a mail-order bride needed in Bitter Springs, Wyoming, she responds with a hopeful heart. HE HAS EVERYTHING TO LOSE Rancher Morgan Longstreet is in want of a wife who will be his partner at Morning Star, someone who will work beside him and stand by him. His first impression of the fair and fragile Jane is that she is not that woman. But when she sets out to prove him wrong, the secrets he cannot share put into jeopardy every happiness they hope to find…. Angie's Comments: This is a book about learning how to trust and creating a new life for yourself. Jane is a very strong woman. While much of the plot is serious, Rabbit and Finn provide some comic relief. This book is third in the Bitter Springs series by Jo Goodman. Goodman is fantastic at creating strong, compelling characters. Recommended for historical romance readers.     Request this item

On Immunity: An Inoculation

On Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss Summary: Why do we fear vaccines? A provocative examination by Eula Biss, the author of Notes from No Man's Land, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award Upon becoming a new mother, Eula Biss addresses a chronic condition of fear-fear of the government, the medical establishment, and what is in your child's air, food, mattress, medicine, and vaccines. She finds that you cannot immunize your child, or yourself, from the world. In this bold, fascinating book, Biss investigates the metaphors and myths surrounding our conception of immunity and its implications for the individual and the social body. As she hears more and more fears about vaccines, Biss researches what they mean for her own child, her immediate community, America, and the world, both historically and in the present moment. She extends a conversation with other mothers to meditations on Voltaire's Candide, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Susan Sontag's AIDS and Its Metaphors, and beyond. On Immunity is a moving account of how we are all interconnected-our bodies and our fates. Angie's Comments: This book is an interesting viewpoint and exploration of vaccines and disease from the viewpoint of a new mother. After reading On Immunity, I have a new appreciation for my body and its connection to the world. I recommend this book for people who are interested in the vaccine issue, both for and against vaccines. It is a thoughtful meandering into the world of vaccines and fears.     Request this item

The Keeper of Lost Causes

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen Summary: The first book in New York Times bestsellerJussi Adler-Olsen's electrifying Department Q series. The #1 international bestseller from Jussi Adler-Olsen, author of The Absent One—perfect for fans of Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Carl Mørck used to be one of Copenhagen’s best homicide detectives. Then a hail of bullets destroyed the lives of two fellow cops, and Carl—who didn’t draw his weapon—blames himself. So a promotion is the last thing he expects. But Department Q is a department of one, and Carl’s got only a stack of Copenhagen’s coldest cases for company. His colleagues snicker, but Carl may have the last laugh, because one file keeps nagging at him: a liberal politician vanished five years earlier and is presumed dead. But she isn’t dead … yet. Darkly humorous, propulsive, and atmospheric, The Keeper of Lost Causes introduces American readers to the mega-bestselling series fast becoming an international sensation. Angie's Comments: I started this book late one evening, thinking I would read a few chapters then go to bed. Of course, I ended up reading the entire book in one go. Carl and Assad are interesting characters that add to the mystery of the book instead of detracting from the book. The book goes between the politician and the present day, which only deepen my interest in the mystery. I didn’t figure out the criminals until close to the end. While the ending may be more pat than others, it was emotionally satisfying. I highly recommend this book for readers of Scandinavian mysteries.     Request this item

There's No Place Like Here

There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern Summary: Sometimes it takes losing everything to truly find yourself... Since Sandy Shortt's childhood classmate disappeared twenty years ago, Sandy has been obsessed with missing things. Finding what is lost becomes her single-minded goal--from the lone sock that vanishes in the washing machine to the car keys she misplaced. It's no surprise, then, that Sandy's life's work becomes finding people who have vanished from their loved ones. Sandy's family is baffled and concerned by her increasing preoccupation. Her parents can't understand her compulsion, and she pushes them away further by losing herself in the work of tracking down these missing people. She gives up her life in order to offer a flicker of hope to devastated families...and escape the disappointments of her own. Jack Ruttle is one of those devastated people. It's been a year since his brother Donal vanished into thin air, and he has enlisted Sandy Shortt to find him. But before she is able to offer Jack the information he so desperately needs, Sandy goes missing too...and Jack now finds himself searching for his brother and the one woman who understood his pain. One minute Sandy is jogging through the park, the next, she can't figure out where she is. The path is obscured. Nothing is familiar. A clearing up ahead reveals a camp site, and it's there that Sandy discovers the impossible: she has inadvertently stumbled upon the place-- and people--she's been looking for all her life, a land where all the missing people go. A world away from her loved ones and the home she ran from for so long, Sandy soon resorts to her old habit again, searching. Though this time, she is desperately trying to find her way home... Angie's Comments: This was an interesting book. The characters are more one-dimensional, but the plot is what interested in this book. I kept reading to see what would happen! The plot is slow, but I was riveted the entire time. I won’t think the same way about lost items or memories!    Request this item

The Man Who Touched His Own Heart

The Man Who Touched His Own Heart: True Tales of Science, Surgery, and Mystery by Rob Dunn Summary: The Man Who Touched His Own Heart tells the raucous, gory, mesmerizing story of the heart, from the first "explorers" who dug up cadavers and plumbed their hearts' chambers, through the first heart surgeries-which had to be completed in three minutes before death arrived-to heart transplants and the latest medical efforts to prolong our hearts' lives, almost defying nature in the process. Thought of as the seat of our soul, then as a mysteriously animated object, the heart is still more a mystery than it is understood. Why do most animals only get one billion beats? (And how did modern humans get to over two billion-effectively letting us live out two lives?) Why are sufferers of gingivitis more likely to have heart attacks? Why do we often undergo expensive procedures when cheaper ones are just as effective? What do Da Vinci, Mary Shelley, and contemporary Egyptian archaeologists have in common? And what does it really feel like to touch your own heart, or to have someone else's beating inside your chest? Rob Dunn's fascinating history of our hearts brings us deep inside the science, history, and stories of the four chambers we depend on most. Angie's Comments: I really enjoyed learning about the history of the heart, and most especially the section on the evolution of the heart and comparison between humans and other mammals. Dunn is a good writer, and he brought to life some of explorers of the heart. The best part was towards the end, where Dunn compares the human heart to other animals and shows that there is still a lot of mystery about the heart. If only I had read this book in high school, I might have decided to study the heart!    Request this item

New Audiobook and Ebooks Added to the Collection!

Audiobook (available online): The Girl on the Train: A Novel (unabridged) by Paula Hawkins, Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, et. al.           Ebooks: All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr                                                                As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes, Joe Layden, and Rob Reiner Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty Blood Magick: Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy, Book 3 by Nora Roberts The Book of Life: All Souls Trilogy, Book 3 by Deborah Harkness The Boston Girl: A Novel by Anita Diamant The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown Captivated by You: Crossfire Series, Book 4 by Sylvia Day The Cinderella Murder: An Under Suspicion Novel by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke City of Bones: Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments Series, Book 1 by Cassandra Clare City of Heavenly Fire: Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments Series, Book 6 by Cassandra Clare City of Lost Souls: Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments Series, Book 5 by Cassandra Clare Cold Cold Heart by Tami Hoag Crash & Burn: Tessa Leoni Series, Book 2 by Lisa Gardner Eldest: Inheritance Cycle Series, Book 2 by Christopher Paolini Eragon: Inheritance Cycle Series, Book 1 by Christopher Paolini The Eye of Minds: The Mortality Doctrine Series, Book 1 by James Dashner Fangirl: A Novel by Rainbow Rowell Festive in Death: In Death Series, Book 49 by J. D. Robb Fetching Raymond: A Story from the Ford County Collection by John Grisham Flesh and Blood: A Scarpetta Novel by Patricia Cornwell Four Divergent Stories: The Transfer; The Initiate; The Son; The Traitor by Veronica Roth  Full Force and Effect: Jack Ryan Series, Book 17 by Mark Greaney The Girl on the Train: A Novel by Paula Hawkins The Girl You Left Behind: A Novel by Jojo Moyes Havana Storm: Dirk Pitt Series, Book 23 by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler Heroes Are My Weakness: A Novel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips The Homecoming: Thunder Point Series, Book 6 by Robyn Carr  I Was Here by Gayle Forman Insatiable Appetites: Stone Barrington Series, Book 32 by Stuart Woods The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty The Lost Key: Brit in the FBI Series, Book 2 by Catherine Coulter and J. T. Ellison The Mortal Instruments Series, Books 1 - 4: City of Bones; City of Ashes; City of Glass; City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover: Rules of Scoundrels Series, Book 4 by Sarah MacLean The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and Polly Stone The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters Power Play: A Novel by Danielle Steel The Promise: Thunder Point Series, Book 5 by Robyn Carr The Secret Place: Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox Series, Book 5 by Tana French The Shell Game: An O'Hare and Fox Short Story by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good: The Mitford Years Series, Book 10 by Jan Karon Steelheart: The Reckoners Series, Book 1 by Brandon Sanderson Still Alice by Lisa Genova The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry: A Novel by Gabrielle Zevin There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me by Brooke Shields  Three Wishes: A Novel by Liane Moriarty Trust No One by Jayne Ann Krentz Yes Please by Amy Poehler The Young Elites: The Young Elites Series, Book 1 by Marie Lu                                                                       Check out these items