Monday, June 29, 2015

What's new in Fiction and Mystery?

Wondering what's coming out in Fiction and Mystery for July?  Here are a few titles:





Nemesis by Catherine Coulter
 Agents Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich's cases converge.  How can a murderer who looks like Dracula bee connected to terrorist attacks?



Perfect Touch by Elizabeth Lowell
Sarah Maddox travels around the world to buy art for wealthy clients while Jay Vermillion is busy managing his family's ranch in Wyoming when their paths converge.


Naked Greed by Stuart Woods
Beer making causes trouble in the latest Stone Barrington adventure.  Stone comes to the aid of a prominent brewery owner.

Maf

Thursday, June 25, 2015

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: American Warlords

American Warlords: How Roosevelt's High Command Led America to Victory in World War II
 
by Jonathan W. Jordan 


In a lifetime shaped by politics, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proved himself a master manipulator of Congress, the press, and the public. But when war in Europe and Asia threatened America's shores, FDR found himself in a world turned upside down, where his friends became his foes, his enemies his allies. To help wage democracy's first "total war," he turned to one of history's most remarkable triumvirates. 

Henry Stimson, an old-money Republican from Long Island, rallied to FDR's banner to lead the Army as Secretary of War, and championed innovative weapons that shape our world today. 

General George C. Marshall argued with Roosevelt over grand strategy, but he built the world's greatest war machine and willingly sacrificed his dream of leading the invasion of Europe that made his protégé, Dwight Eisenhower, a legend. 

Admiral Ernest J. King, a hard-drinking, irascible fighter who "destroyed" Pearl Harbor in a prewar naval exercise, understood how to fight Japan, but he also battled the Army, the Air Force, Douglas MacArthur, and his British allies as they moved armies and fleets across the globe. 

These commanders threw off sparks whenever they clashed: Generals against politicians, Army versus Navy. But those sparks lit the fire of victory. During four years of bitter warfare, FDR's lieutenants learned to set aside deep personal, political, and professional differences and pull a nation through the twentieth century's darkest days. 

Interacting with Roosevelt's warlords and, sometimes bitterly at odds with them, was a colorful cast of the Second World War's giants: Winston Churchill, MacArthur, Josef Stalin, Eisenhower, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Charles de Gaulle. These and other larger-than-life figures enrich a sweeping story of an era brimming with steel, fire, and blood.

Drawing upon a wealth of primary sources, American Warlords goes behind closed doors to give readers an intimate, often surprising view of titans who led America from isolation to the summit of global power.  An intimate account of the four men who led the nation to victory in the Second World War. 

Tyson

Monday, June 22, 2015

High School Summer Reading 2015



Wellesley Free Library wants to make Summer Reading a breeze! Check out the list below of Wellesley High School's summer reads and follow the links to find them in the library.


9th Grade CP and ACP:
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
http://library.minlib.net/record=b3044755

9th Grade Honors:
Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand
http://library.minlib.net/record=b2846435




10th Grade CP: The Color of Water by James McBride
http://library.minlib.net/record=b1559854
 
10th Grade ACP: Where'd you go Bernadette by Maria Semple
http://library.minlib.net/record=b2988900

10th Grade Honors: Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
http://library.minlib.net/record=b2983578



11th Grade CP and ACP: Into Thin Air by John Krakauer
http://library.minlib.net/record=b2046875

11th Grade Honors: 1984 by George Orwell
http://library.minlib.net/record=b2563587






12th Grade CP: Different Seasons by Stephen King
http://library.minlib.net/record=b2454651

12th Grade ACP: On Writing by Stephen King
http://library.minlib.net/record=b2907467

12th Grade Honors: Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
http://library.minlib.net/record=b1896159




Diverse American Voices: Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
http://library.minlib.net/record=b1896159

Humanities: Unaccustomed Earth by Jhump Lahiri
http://library.minlib.net/record=b2540008

Thursday, June 18, 2015

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Waterloo


Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles

by Bernard Cornwell 

 

 

Commemorating the two hundredth anniversary of Napoleon's last stand Waterloo, is a riveting nonfiction chronicle of one of the greatest battles ever fought. 

On June 18, 1815, the armies of France, Britain, and Prussia descended upon a quiet valley south of Brussels. In the previous three days, the French army had beaten the Prussians at Ligny and fought the British to a standstill at Quatre-Bras. The Allies were in retreat. 

The little village north of where they turned to fight the French army was called Waterloo. The blood soaked battle to which the town gave its name would become a landmark in European history. 

In his first work of nonfiction, Bernard Cornwell combines his storytelling skills with a meticulously researched history to give a riveting chronicle of every dramatic moment, from Napoleon's daring escape from Elba to the smoke and gore of the three battlefields and their aftermath. 

Through quotes from the letters and diaries of Emperor Napoleon, the Duke of Wellington, and the ordinary officers and soldiers, Cornwell brings to life how it actually felt to fight those famous battles, as well as the moments of amazing bravery on both sides, that left the outcome hanging in the balance until the bitter end. 

Published to coincide with the battle's bicentennial in 2015, Waterloo is a tense and gripping story of heroism and tragedy of the final battle that determined the fate of nineteenth century Europe.
Tyson



Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Wellesley Friday Morning Book/Movie Group

Wellesley Friday Morning Book/Movie Group


Friday June 19, 2015

10:00 AM to 11:00 AM


Arnold Room
All are welcome to come and join in the discussion!  Our group meets on the third Friday of each month from 10-11AM. This month we will discuss the book What is the What : the autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng. Dave Eggers'  moving and beautiful novel is about one of the thousands of Lost Boys of Sudan who was forced to leave his village at the age of seven to search for freedom. Eggers, a Boston native, was a National Book Critics Circle Award  finalist for this work.
 

Thursday, June 11, 2015

BOOK SPOTLIGHT; The Rival Queens


The Rival Queens: Catherine de' Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal That Ignited a Kingdom


 
by Nancy Goldstone

The riveting true story of mother-and-daughter queens Catherine de' Medici and
Marguerite de Valois, whose wildly divergent personalities and turbulent relationship changed the shape of their tempestuous and dangerous century.

Set in Renaissance France, at the magnificent court of the Valois kings, comes the history of two remarkable women, a mother and daughter driven into opposition by a terrible betrayal that threatened to destroy the realm. Catherine de' Medici was a ruthless pragmatist and powerbroker who dominated the throne for thirty years. Her youngest daughter Marguerite, the glamorous "Queen Margot," was a passionate free spirit, the only adversary whom her mother could neither intimidate nor control.

Rich in detail and vivid prose, Goldstone's narrative unfolds as a thrilling historical epic. Treacherous court politics, poisonings, inter-national espionage, and adultery form the background to a story that includes such celebrated figures as Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Nostradamus.

An immersive tale of love, betrayal, ambition, espionage, assassination, and intrigue. 


Tyson

Saturday, June 6, 2015

What's New in Mystery and Fiction for June?

Wondering what's new in Mystery and Fiction for June?  Here are a few titles:

The President's Shadow by Brad Meltzer

Meltzer's third political thriller featuring archivist Beecher White.

The Fixer by Joseph Finder

Rick Hoffman loses his job and his apartment, and moves back into his childhood home.  Ensuing renovations reveal a terrible discovery.  

Invasion of Privacy by Christopher Reich

A woman's quest to find the truth behind her husband's death.

Blueprints by Barbara Delinsky

The relationship between a mother and daughter who are the co-hosts of a TV show is examined.  





Thursday, June 4, 2015

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Pirate Hunters

 Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship
 by Robert Kurson 



A thrilling new adventure of danger and deep-sea diving, historic mystery and suspense, by the author of the New York Times bestseller Shadow Divers.


Finding and identifying a pirate ship is the hardest thing to do under the sea. But two men John Chatterton and John Mattera, are willing to risk everything to find the Golden Fleece, the ship of the infamous pirate Joseph Bannister.

At large during the Golden Age of Piracy in the seventeenth century, Bannister should have been immortalized in the lore of the sea, his exploits more notorious than Blackbeard's, more daring than Kidd's. But his story, and his ship, have been lost to time.

 If Chatterton and Mattera succeed, they will make history, it will be just the second time ever that a pirate ship has been discovered and positively identified. Soon, however, they realize that cutting-edge technology and a willingness to lose everything aren't enough to track down Bannister's ship. 

They must travel the globe in search of historic documents and accounts of the great pirate's exploits, face down dangerous rivals, battle the tides of nations and governments and experts. But it's only when they learn to think and act like pirates like Bannister, that they become able to go where no pirate hunters have gone before. 

 Pirate Hunters is an gripping story with mystery, colorful characters, buried treasure. Fast-paced and filled with suspense, history, and adventure, an utterly engrossing read.

Tyson